There was cause for celebration in Wroclaw and the whole of Poland this week, when it was announced that the Kaczynski twins had been ousted from power and that Donald Tusk and his Civic Platform party were taking over the reigns.
The Kaczynskis established their power base trading on old fears and paranoia's, and apart from denouncing old enemies the Germans and Russians, they made their top priority leading a witch hunt against anyone who profitted under Communism. Their extreme nationalism, conservatism and, let's face it, ignorance, quickly led to them being ridiculed in the foreign press. When Poland's younger generation stepped up to the polling stations in record numbers this weeked the twins PiS (Law and Justice) was thankfully relegated to the role of opposition.
Poland's new prime minister, Donald Tusk, has already put mending strained foreign relations with Russia and the EU as his top priority, and has already called for an end of the political turmoil which he blames for shackling the growth of the country. Regarding the US, Tusk has hinted that he will call for a more balanced relationship, with the nation he has called "our closest ally, our greatest friend."
|