Kopacz nominated for PM of Poland

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http://www.euronews.com/2014/08/30/eu-leaders-name-donald-tusk-european-council-president-/

Christ...

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The lack of response to this thread seems to confirm that, save for typical idiotic reaction from the Polish media (zomgz great success in Europe!!11), nobody cares about this basically figurehead position.

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Who's replacing him as PM then?

He's staying on as PM until November, so there is time to pick a successor.

The problem is that Tusk spent a good part of his tenure either eliminating or neutralizing potential intra-party opponents (read: any stronger personalities), which means any potential successors would be in far weaker position, especially now, that election approached and PO is sliding in the polls.

Anyhow, there are frequently mentioned names:

Elżbieta Bieńkowska (Deputy PM and Minister of Regional Development)
Ewa Kopacz (Marshal of Sejm, First Vice-Chair of PO)
Radosław Sikorski (Minister of Foreign Affairs)
Tomasz Siemoniak (Minister of Defense)
Grzegorz Schetyna (former Marshal of Sejm and Acting President)

I'll write advantages and disadvantages of each potential candidate later.

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Sikorski seems like a good choice.

Especially with his foreign policy experience. Unfortunately, he doesn't have his own power base within the party, which makes him a long-shot candidate.

Normally, Schetyna would be a logical candidate, being Tusk's second-in-command for a long time. He's a superb political operative with a considerable number of supporters. But they are isolated after he was railroaded after the 2011 election.

Bieńkowska is currently Tusk's favorite Minister, but she doesn't have any power base on her own (having never joined the party). Also, being gaffe-prone doesn't help either.

Kopacz is considered the most likely choice, due to her close relationship with the PM and position within the party ranks. Her major weakness is being a follower, rather than a leader type.

Siemioniak is the least experienced of all, but also got his power base, albeit smaller than Kopacz.

At this moment, with a gun to my head, I'd say Kopacz, with Siemioniak second most likely.

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Well I think she's known for three things outside of Denmark: first her famous selfie, then her "Gucci" nickname and lastly her "Hi, I am the prime minister of Denmark". So in the current context where half of Europe wants to act more tough against Russia, her lightness was an important handicap compared to someone with a statesman image like Tusk. She suffered from the dumb blonde stereotype.

Do you honestly think the choice of EU president will bother the Russians at all? I suspect they couldn't care less, and policy-wise it makes no difference for them at all (of course).

I agree this won't change the direction of EU's foreign policy one way or another.

While Presidency of the Council is, in theory, a powerful post, its pretty much become a ceremonial presiding officer, as evident with Van Rumpoy's tenure. All the President can really do is trying to play a consensul-builder, but it can work only if heads of governments play along.

The truth is, there are already too much scorpions in the bottle (leaders of individual states on one side, running the Council, and European Commission on the other, which wields actual executive prerogatives) for Tusk or anyone filling this post to make a difference.

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You can call me a Negative Nancy, but I'm still sceptical. I'm not going to buy the whole "picked because respected" thing. If EU leaders wanted a strong political personality to run the Council, they would have went with a tested statesman in 2009, like Juncker, instead of reaching to the second tier (while Van Rumpoy did very well, he wasn't really a prime candidate back then).

I think this selection is about message: giving a post to someone from the "New Europe", as well as sending a strong signal to Russia by picking a Pole. If it hadn't been Tusk, it would be someone else from the border countries.

While I understated Van Rumpoy's role, I'm not optimistic whether Tusk is up for the task. During his tenure he was nothing put a political machine operator, lacking vision or creativity, interested only in staying in power and guillotining potential rivals. If a Pole had to be selected, Sikorski would be far better choice, for example.

Going back to Russia, EU sanctions won't get any harsher not milder because of who was picked to chair the Council.

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You can call me a Negative Nancy, but I'm still sceptical. I'm not going to buy the whole "picked because respected" thing. If EU leaders wanted a strong political personality to run the Council, they would have went with a tested statesman in 2009, like Juncker, instead of reaching to the second tier (while Van Rumpoy did very well, he wasn't really a prime candidate back then).

I think this selection is about message: giving a post to someone from the "New Europe", as well as sending a strong signal to Russia by picking a Pole. If it hadn't been Tusk, it would be someone else from the border countries.

While I understated Van Rumpoy's role, I'm not optimistic whether Tusk is up for the task. During his tenure he was nothing put a political machine operator, lacking vision or creativity, interested only in staying in power and guillotining potential rivals. If a Pole had to be selected, Sikorski would be far better choice, for example.

Going back to Russia, EU sanctions won't get any harsher not milder because of who was picked to chair the Council.

So perfect for the job then.

Hahaha, I wish it would be that simple

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It seems we can take Bieńkowska off the list, since she's been selected to be the next European Commissioner for for Internal Market and Services.

I really wish Tusk would have decided to resign earlier (since he's got a good excuse of "prepearing for transition"), so we would have the whole process completed sooner.

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That sound like a excellent skill set for a EU president.

Sorry, but ability to work in specific set of Polish politics doesn't necessarily translate to ability to achieve the same on EU Council level. I sincerely wish to see Tusk as successfull President (not because he's a Pole, but because I simply want the EU to work well), but the burden of proof is on his side, especially with the fact foreign affairs were secondary concern for him as PM

Also, while I can't deny that Polish position within the EU improved since 2007 (ironically, the bar was quite low after Kaczyński), I can't agree with theory that Tusk somehow waved his magic stick and transformed Poland from a pariah into an important state member. First, due to Poland's size, we were already most important of EU's eastern members (though, undoubtedly, a lot of this potential has been wasted). Second, giving him the entire credit is simply not fair, given a lot of people (from and outside the current administration) worked really hard.

I admit Tusk has some encouraging characteristic, but he was always primarily concerned with national affairs and I'm not sure whether he's up for this job. I'd rather see Sikorski as High Representative, if Poland really had to receive a top post in Brussels.

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It's official. The President's spokesman announced Kopacz will be appointed as Prime Minister, which would make her the second female PM in Polish history.

Tusk is now expected to tender his resignation within a week, although it's not clear yet how long he'd stay on a caretaker basis.

Kopacz, 57, served as Minister of Health from 2007 to 2011 (she was pediatrician and general practitioner before entering politics), before becoming Marshal (Speaker) of Sejm, being first elected MP in 2001. She's also the first Vice Chairman of PO and most certain candidate to party's leadership now.

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It's official. The President's spokesman announced Kopacz will be appointed as Prime Minister, which would make her the second female PM in Polish history.

Tusk is now expected to tender his resignation within a week, although it's not clear yet how long he'd stay on a caretaker basis.

So he won't be the next president of the UE???

Tusk term as President of the European Council doesn't start till December, so he's got plenty of time to leave his current post.

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Pretty much. Probably the best option of leading candidates to succeed Tusk.

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It's official. The President's spokesman announced Kopacz will be appointed as Prime Minister, which would make her the second female PM in Polish history.

Tusk is now expected to tender his resignation within a week, although it's not clear yet how long he'd stay on a caretaker basis.

So he won't be the next president of the UE???

Tusk term as President of the European Council doesn't start till December, so he's got plenty of time to leave his current post.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Pretty much. Probably the best option of leading candidates to succeed Tusk.

Tusk was really terrible?

Actually, I meant Kopacz is probably the successor out of contenders pool.