Poland’s opposition leader Donald Tusk will meet European Union leaders and officials in Brussels next week after winning a coalition majority on Sunday as expectations grow that the next government will seek to move fast to access billions of euros in suspended aid.
(Bloomberg) — Poland’s opposition leader Donald Tusk will meet European Union leaders and officials in Brussels next week after winning a coalition majority on Sunday as expectations grow that the next government will seek to move fast to access billions of euros in suspended aid.
“These will be top-level talks,” Borys Budka, a senior official in Tusk’s Civic Platform, told reporters after the party’s meeting in Warsaw on Thursday. “From the day one, we’re doing everything we can so that Poland returns to its rightful position on the international arena.”
Poland’s top priority is the release of more than €35 billion ($37 billion) in EU aid, which Brussels has withheld because of concerns over rule of law under the nationalist Law & Justice government. Tusk’s party and two others won enough seats to form a cabinet and unseat Law & Justice after two terms in power. The election results boosted the zloty and Polish stocks.
Tusk, former European Council president, this week called on the nation’s president to quickly start the process of handing over power. However, this seems unlikely following media reports that the new parliament will only be convened after Nov. 11, and that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is likely to get the first chance to form a new government.
Tusk may struggle to meet the conditions for the release of funds. President Andrzej Duda, a former Law & Justice lawmaker, may veto a plan to dismantle political influence over courts. It may also face a challenge at the country’s top tribunal, which is stacked with ruling party loyalists.
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