News and stories about Poland as reported around the world
Get Adobe Flash player

Elections 2010

Poland’s municipal election

Small change signals big shift

POLES are a capricious lot. Not once since the fall of communism two decades age have they voted a ruling party back into office for two consecutive terms. (They did re-elect Aleksander KwaÅ›niewski as president, but in Poland the head of state holds little real power.) It seems more and more likely that the ruling centre-right Civic Platform (PO) may at last buck this trend in the general election planned for next year—at least if last Sunday’s local poll is anything to go by. Continue reading

One More Reason for the New Polish Partition

Henry Olsen had a fascinating post yesterday on how the vote in the 2010 Polish presidential election divided almost precisely along the boundaries of the 1864 Polish partition. He notes that voters in the west and north (the former German/Prussian territories) went for the pro-free market Komorowski, while voters in the east and south (the former Russian and Austrian territories) went for Kaczynski, the more protectionist candidate. Continue reading

Poland’s new Catholic president gets mixed reviews from bishops

Polish bishops have given a mixed reception to their country’s new president, Bronislaw Komorowski, a 58-year-old Catholic father of five and former seminary history teacher.

“I see him as a man of ideas with many personal qualities, a person of dialogue who can also listen — I think this election serves Poland well,” said Archbishop Henryk Muszynski of Gniezno. Continue reading

Polish Government May Struggle to Cut Deficit Even With Own President

Financial markets have priced in the Polish presidential election victory of the ruling party’s in Sunday’s runoff, considering him a market-friendly candidate who will allow the government to introduce austerity measures. Such measures are desperately needed to cut the country’s high budget deficit. So it may be a little worrying that Mr. Komorowski’s recent comments show he seems keen on keeping some key spending items. Continue reading

Announcements