Invested on December 13, 2023, the new government of Donald Tusk has worked hard to distance itself from the conservative national power, exercised by the Law and Justice party (PiS) between 2015 and 2023. “We will once again trust science, experts and common sense. We will replace quarrels with our allies with (…) searching for what we have in common”assured the Prime Minister in his New Year’s greetings on public television TVP.
Until December 20, 2023, this television channel was still governed by PiS allies, who did not appreciate being suddenly chased out by the new majority, determined to reestablish a real public service. Media which, following the presidential veto on the budget, were even placed “in a state of liquidation” on December 27, to be restructured.
Donald Tusk and his Minister of Culture have resorted to the strong method, a process which is still debated by jurists, to clean the Augean stables, which were embodied by public media devoid of any objectivity. Other resignations and appointments followed in various key institutions, such as intelligence or the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. Close to PiS, Jacek Kurski, who was head of public television from 2016 to 2020 and had participated in its politicization, was also recalled from the World Bank, where he was appointed by Warsaw in December 2022.
“Donald Tusk wants above all to show through his first decisions that he is effective, that he begins from day one to keep the promises of his electoral campaignunderlines Anna Paczesniak, political scientist at the University of Wroclaw. He is aware that opponents of PiS are waiting for accounts to be rules with the old power, resulting in rapid resignations from positions occupied by civil servants whose competence was widely questioned. »
Increased cooperation with the EU
In the diplomatic sphere too, the break is clear, while the PiS did not hesitate, in the middle of the electoral campaign, to turn against Ukraine. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, went to kyiv on December 22 to ensure Poland’s support for its neighbor at war. He notably met the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and welcomed the “new momentum” boosted Polish-Ukrainian relations.
The next day, farmers unblocked the Medyka border crossing, paralyzed since November 27, 2023, to protest against what they consider to be unfair competition from Ukraine, on the grain market as well as that of transport, and in solidarity with Polish truckers still occupying three other border crossings. The protesters nevertheless stand ready to resume their mobilization if their demands are slow to be realized.
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