- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced a cabinet reshuffle, replacing four ministers who are running for the European Parliament.
- The reshuffle is aimed at injecting new energy into the Tusk administration, which has been implementing major reforms since December last year.
- Tusk said the changes were jointly decided and expressed the need for order.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a cabinet reshuffle on Friday, replacing four ministers who will stand in next month’s European Parliament elections.
The changes are also seen as an opportunity to bring new energy to the Tusk administration, which took office in December and has embarked on sweeping reforms in a number of areas, including the judiciary, foreign policy and media.
“Today is the time to bring order. This is one of the reasons why we jointly decided on these changes,” Tusk said.
Polish leader warns of ‘pre-war era’, urges European countries to invest in defense
He said there would be more changes driven by “national interests” in the future.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House after meeting with President Joe Biden on March 12, 2024 in Washington. Prime Minister Tusk announced a cabinet reshuffle, replacing four ministers who will stand in next month’s European Parliament elections. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Prime Minister Tusk’s pro-European Union government has embarked on a major reversal of the policies of its right-wing predecessor party, the Law and Justice Party, which put Poland on a collision course with the 27-member EU between 2015 and 2023. Mr. Tusk’s team is taking steps to free the judiciary and state media from the political controls that Law and Justice sought to impose, and to hold accountable those responsible for mismanagement and loss of funds by state-owned enterprises.
Culture Minister Bartholomie Sienkiewicz and Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński were replaced, who spearheaded the management change at state television, radio and news agencies. Boris Budka, Minister for State-owned Assets, and Krzysztof Hetman, Minister for Development and Technology, also resigned.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The new interior minister is Tomasz Siemoniak, who served as defense minister under Tusk’s previous government from 2011 to 2015. He remains in his post as coordinator of special services during Russia’s war against Poland’s neighbor Ukraine.
Currently, art historian Hanna Wroblewska has been appointed as Minister of Culture, and economist and financier Jakub Jaworowski has been appointed in charge of state-owned assets, which are currently being audited and are currently undergoing an audit. A clear mismanagement has become apparent. Krzysztof Pasik, an experienced politician and member of parliament, will become the new Minister of Development and Technology.
Both men will be officially appointed by President Andrzej Duda on Monday.
The appointment came hours before a large protest planned by Law and Justice in Warsaw in a bid to win seats in the June 9 European Parliament elections. They were joining farmers protesting against the EU’s new agricultural policy to cut green gas emissions, known as the Green Deal.
