Political parties in Poland

Financial support for pensioners and vulnerable groups from the budget revenue

Poland's president on Wednesday swore in Donald Tusk as the new pro-EU prime minister, putting an end to eight years of right-wing populist rule.

The ministers of the new administration were successively sworn in by the conservative head of state, who is allied with the previous government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party.

As he said, this will be the priority of the government, because it is in the interest of the free world.
Tusk said that it is painful for him to hear how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has to continue trying to convince world leaders of the need to continue supporting Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression, AP reported.

Expectations for Poland's pro-EU government which is due to take power next week are sky-high but current ruling nationalists will still be a powerful and influential opposition, analysts say.

"Today they want our tanks, but tomorrow they will want our children," Ewa, an activist with the movement, claimed in her speech during the May 1 rally organised by the Polish Anti-War Movement in the centre of Warsaw.

After the unexpected success of the opposition march last Sunday in Warsaw, which put a record half a million people on the streets of the capital according to the organisers, democratic political parties seeking to defeat PiS in the general election are feeling emboldened.

Independent website onet.pl used aerial images to calculate that at least 300,000 took to the streets. The centre of Warsaw was completely paralysed and protesters had to walk across the city to get to the meeting place on Sunday at noon.

Polish President Andrzej Duda arrives at the Opening Session of the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe at the Harpa Conference Center in Reykjavik, Iceland, 16 May 2023. EPA-EFE/Leszek Szymanski

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki surrounded by supporters from across Poland at party convention, 13 May 2023. Photo: BIRN

Elsewhere, the Polish government announced this week it would ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the European Games, taking place this June and July in Krakow and surrounding areas.