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Poland's prime minister wins confidence vote

October 1, 2014

With former Prime Minister Donald Tusk leaving for Brussels, Ewa Kopacz is taking the reins of Eastern Europe' largest economy. In her first policy speech, Kopacz promised closer ties with the US and rejected the euro.

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Polen Premierministerin Kopacz Parlament 01.10.2014 Warschau
Image: Reuters/Slawomir Kaminski/Agencja Gazeta

After her mentor and former prime minister Donald Tusk left the top job for his new role as head of the European Council, Ewa Kopacz, who was sworn in as prime minister only last week, won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday. The vote was 259-183, with three abstaining. Though Kopacz belongs to the center-right Civic Platform party, some of her supporters came from the leftist Twoj Ruch party, who agree with her fairly liberal stance on parental leave and education.

Directly before the vote, Kopacz, a 57-year old former pediatrician, outlined her broader policy plans before parliament. She reiterated the previous government's stance on Ukraine, saying: "We support the pro-European direction in Ukraine's development, but we cannot step in for the Ukrainians," rejecting the validity of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Donald Tusk Rede zum 75. Jahrestag des Anfangs des Zweiten Weltkrieges 01.09.2014
Former PM Donald Tusk is leaving Warsaw to head up the European Council in BrusselsImage: Reuters

Their conflict-torn neighbor is the source of much anxiety in Poland. Kopacz directly stated her wish for closer ties with the US, adding: "My government will do everything possible for an increased US military presence in Poland."

The Zloty stays in the picture

Kopacz also addressed whether Poland will become the next country on track to join the single European currency. It was widely believed she would announce a plant to slowly abandon the Zloty, as her ally, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, recently said he believed it was time Poland start a debate on joining the Euro. Kopacz defied expectations, however, we she stated that the euro had to prove itself stable before Poland would consider joining.

"We must remember that the eurozone only recently experienced the biggest crisis in its history," she reminded her colleagues. One of the advisors who assisted in writing the speech is non other than euroskeptic former finance minister Jacek Rostowski, who was also the architect of Tusk's cautious attitude towards adopting the euro.

Inflation in Polen 1988
The Poles are happy to have their own currencyImage: picture-alliance/AFP

Symbolic handshake

The most extraordinary moment of the day, however, came in the form of a handshake between bitter rivals Tusk and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski once accused Tusk of covering up a 2010 plane crash which claimed the life of hs twin brother, then-president Lech Kaczynski.

Prime Minister Kopacz personally extended the olive branch to Kaczynski, leader of the opposition, saying "it's high time to break this personal animosity … let us remove this curse of hate from Poland."

es/glb (AP, dpa, Reuters)