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‘Respect the democratic choices,’ centrist European leader tells DudaStéphane Séjourné, president of the centrist Renew Europe group in the European parliament, said today that “we are witnessing the democratic rebirth of Poland.”
Séjourné congratulated Polska 2050, adding:
“We call on the Polish President and the institutions of Poland to respect the democratic choices made by the Polish people.”
There is lots of excitement on the left about the final outcome.
The New Left’s Robert Biedroń wrote this morning that it is thanks to joint work that Poland is waking up to a new reality – and that we have a government to build.
8,61% ‼️
To dzięki naszej wspólnej pracy budzimy się dziś w nowej rzeczywistości. Rzeczywistości, gdzie PiS po latach nieudolnych rządów idzie na emeryturę.
Do boju Lewico, do boju opozycjo. Mamy rząd do zbudowania ✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/I16MFLfYuV
— Robert Biedroń (@RobertBiedron) October 17, 2023 ‘We are back’: Polish MEP pledges bigger European role but outlines challengesSpeaking to reporters this morning, Polish member of the European parliament Róża Thun said the message to European partners is that Poland is “back.”
Thun, a member of Polska 2050, part of Third Way, said “this was a victory of democracy.”
We need a strong Europe and we want to have a voice in the world – not only in the European Union. So the first thing that our European partners hear today is, we are back. And that’s an extremely important message for us in Poland as well, but also for Europe. We are back. We will not show the back to the European Union anymore. We want to cooperate, we want to reinforce this Europe. And this message is extremely strong, because the victory of democratic forces is very clear.
But the parliamentarian also said that there are “huge challenges in front of us.”
First thing is of course, rule of law, independence of judiciary, back to Europe, as we call it, that we need to give, again, freedom or render those institutions free from party control and influence, and that’s not only judiciary, but also military, police, public media.
Mikuláš Dzurinda, a former Slovak prime minister, told the Guardian this morning that the outcome of the Polish election would “boost the centripetal tendencies in the EU”.
Dzurinda, who now heads the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies – the official thinktank of the centre-right European People’s Party – also said that the opposition’s strong performance in Poland “will bring new dynamism and encouragement for our EPP family”.
I know my friends in Poland, especially Donald Tusk, very well, and I feel very strongly that Poland with Donald Tusk at the helm of the government will strengthen or boost the centripetal tendencies in the EU, and mitigate the opposite – the centrifugal tones or tendencies. It is crucial, because we know very well that we live in very special times when we face a substantial shift of the global political landscape, so we need to be more united in Europe, in the EU. In this respect, I’m happy, it is a significant step in the right direction.
‘Extremely happy’: Polish results boost European centre-rightPoland’s election is a big win for the centre-right European People’s party.
Civic Platform is a member of the EPP, and Donald Tusk was president of the EPP from 2019 until 2022.
Manfred Weber, the EPP’s current leader, told reporters this morning that “we are extremely happy about the outcome – the Polish people have spoken”.
Weber said he is “proud” of Civic Coalition members “who worked so hard for this result, especially Donald Tusk, who succeeded to break through the negativity of the ruling party and offered to the Polish people a positive perspective, a message of hope”.
“Poland is back,” he said, calling the result “a new chapter”.
Poland has a very close relationship with the US, and what happens in Warsaw is of strategic importance for Washington.
Late yesterday, a spokesperson for the US state department pointed to the country’s very high election turnout, writing that it “is a strong expression of the democratic will of Polish citizens”.
The record voter turnout in Poland’s elections is a strong expression of the democratic will of Polish citizens. We look forward to working with Poland’s next government to continue strengthening our bilateral relations.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) October 16, 2023Polish final election numbers publishedWe now know the final outcome of Poland’s Sunday election. While the ruling Law and Justice party got the most votes, the election was a defeat for the current government: opposition parties performed so well that they have a path toward forming a new ruling coalition.
Law and Justice (PiS): 35.38%
Civic Coalition (KO): 30.7%
Third Way: 14.4%
The Left (Lewica): 8.61%
Konfederacja: 7.16%
Welcome to the blogGood morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
Today we will be looking at the final results of Poland’s election, and the wide-ranging implications for both Polish society and European politics.
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