Tusk wins as PiS opposition trails close behind

3 months ago 16

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) scored 37.4% in the European elections in Poland on Sunday the vote, with Law & Justice (PiS, ECR) trailing close behind with 35.7%, meaning both are expected to send 20 MEPs to Brussels.

Tusk’s response was jubilant: “For 10 years, we have been waiting for this first place on the podium. I am very happy and very touched.”

“I have a sense of satisfaction that we did not waste those beautiful months after 15 October,” the prime minister said about the general elections last October when PiS won but could not form a parliamentary majority, resulting in Tusk’s broad coalition coming to power in Poland.

“KO’s result “is probably the highest result of a party in Europe,” he added.

Less pleased with his party’s defeat was PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński. “The result is a big task for us,” he said. He promised PiS’ voters that the party would “keep going” despite the “hellish attacks” on it.

The far-right Konfederacja was the second surprise of the night. While it failed to reach the electoral threshold in 2019, this time, it managed to secure 11.8% of the vote (and six seats).

“We have shown that we can win over politically correct opponents without abandoning our programme,” Krzysztof Bosak, parliamentary deputy speaker and co-leader of the far-right Confederation party.

He noted that his party was the one that “said the most critical things about the EU in the history of Polish political campaigns” during the election campaign and that voters rewarded this, showing that “they want this ideology and uncompromising attitude”.

As for the future European grouping to which Konfederacja will belong, experts contacted by Euractiv Poland predict that it would rather form a new grouping with the AfD and other parties than join either the ECR or the ID.

Robert Biedroń of the Left Party, who won his second mandate, said he was satisfied even though his party won only 6.6% of the vote. “Of course, the results could have been better. Of course, we could have given more, but we resisted the anti-European, anti-democratic populists,” he said.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)