New Polish justice minister will seek ‘any niche’ to undo rule of law breaches

Adam Bodnar is determined to reverse damage to judicial system inflicted by defeated PiS, which led to clashes with EU

Poland’s new justice minister has vowed to “find any niche in the legal system” that will allow him to push through reforms, as he starts work to reverse the rule of law breaches carried out under the previous government.

Adam Bodnar, a law professor and former human rights ombudsman, was elected to Poland’s upper house of parliament in the October election and became justice minister last Wednesday, part of a new government led by prime minister Donald Tusk.

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Poland’s new government sacks state TV, radio and news bosses

Move follows regular accusations of biased reporting and transmission of propaganda when PiS was in power

The new Polish government has gutted the top management of public television, making good on a campaign promise to reform a broadcaster that functioned as a mouthpiece of its rightwing populist predecessor, but also prompting criticism of their methods from some quarters.

The government led by prime minister, Donald Tusk, was sworn into office last Wednesday. It has promised to launch an ambitious programme to reverse the damage done to rule of law in the country during eight years of government by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

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Far-right Polish MP uses fire extinguisher to put out Hanukah candles

Rabbi says antisemitic attack, hours after Donald Tusk vowed to reform Poland, galvanised support for Jewish community

A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a vote of confidence in the new government.

Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.

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Donald Tusk sets out vision of a progressive Poland at heart of EU

Incoming PM tells parliament he will ‘bring back billions of euros’ of EU funds, as MPs prepare to confirm his candidacy

Donald Tusk has presented his vision of a new, progressive Poland at the heart of the EU, before a vote in parliament that is set to confirm his candidacy for prime minister.

“Poland will regain its position as a leader in the European Union,” Tusk told the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, during a speech on Tuesday. He promised to “bring back billions of euros” of EU funds to Poland, which were frozen due to a dispute between Brussels and the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) government over rule-of-law concerns.

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Far-right Polish MP uses fire extinguisher to put out Hanukah candles after Donald Tusk speaks out against xenophobia – as it happened

Incident came hours after new PM Donald Tusk vowed to reform Poland. This live blog is now closed

As Poland moves to form a new government, the European court of human rights issued a new judgment today that the lack of any form of legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples in Poland breaches the European convention on human rights.

The court considered that the Polish state had failed to comply with its duty to ensure that the applicants had a specific legal framework providing for the recognition and protection of their samesex unions.

That failure had resulted in the applicants’ inability to regulate fundamental aspects of their lives and amounted to a breach of their right to respect for their private and family life.

I protest against the xenophobia introduced by the authorities into public debate.

I protest against the hostile attitude of the authorities towards immigrants.

I protest against the incapacitation of public television.

We will have different views on many issues, but we want to be a community and the work of the future government will focus on this.

We are so different, we are attached to different traditions. This is our wealth. The community is built by the rule of law and the constitution, and we should not argue about this just to be able to safely argue about other topics.

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Donald Tusk vows to ‘chase away the evil’ after parliament backs him as new PM

Former European Council leader will take power after incumbent Polish premier, Mateusz Morawiecki, lost confidence vote

Donald Tusk has pledged to “chase away the darkness … chase away the evil” of eight divisive years of national-conservative rule, after Poland’s parliament voted to back his nomination as the country’s new prime minister.

“I want to thank Polish women and men,” the former European council president said after Monday’s vote. “Thank you, Poland. This is a wonderful day, not for me, but for all those who have deeply believed over these years that things will get even better.”

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‘We will fix everything together,’ Tusk vows after Polish parliament votes in favour of making him new prime minister – as it happened

Vote set to end eight years of rule by nationalist PiS as Tusk vows to mend ties with EU. This live blog is closed

In a policy speech ahead of a confidence vote he is set to lose, the outgoing Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said his government had shown it could set new trends in European politics and underscored his opposition to empowering the EU.

Europe of homelands, not a Europe without homelands. We do not agree to any further deprivation of competences from states. If the union is to survive, it must abandon attempts to greedily seize new competences.

We proved that the liberal economic model was not only unfair, but above all ineffective and irrational. We have introduced a completely new model, a new – one might say – socio-economic system. We took first steps towards a solidarity state.

We have shown that we are not doomed to constant imitation, but that we can be the source of new trends in European politics.

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Donald Tusk expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week

Two months after opposition alliance won an electoral majority, his appointment will end eight years of nationalist rule

Donald Tusk is expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week, almost two months after a parliamentary election handed a majority to an alliance of opposition parties. His appointment will put an end to eight years of rule by the nationalist, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The Tusk-led alliance won a clear majority of seats in the 15 October vote, but the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, gave incumbent prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the first chance at forming a government, widely seen as a delaying tactic.

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Tusk forced to wait as PiS given first chance to form Polish government

Law and Justice party won most votes in last month’s election but all other parties have ruled out working with them

Donald Tusk, who declared victory in last month’s Polish parliamentary election, will have to wait several weeks before having a chance to form a government after the president, Andrzej Duda, said he would offer the first chance to do so to the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

PiS, the nationalist, populist party that has governed Poland for the past eight years, won the most votes of any party in the election but fell far short of a majority of seats in parliament. All other parties have ruled out entering a coalition with them, leaving them without any obvious path to retain power.

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‘Nightmare is over’: Polish election result brings relief for LGBTQ+ people

Community looks tentatively to future as party that sought to demonise them is unlikely to retain power

For the past eight years, fear and anxiety has threaded through much of Bart Staszewski’s daily life. As a gay man living in Poland, he found himself increasingly under attack by a government that had sought to depict the LGBTQ+ community as a threat to the nation and its children, fuelling prejudices and hate crimes across the country.

But since last month’s election pointed to a possible route to power for opposition parties, Staszewski has been gripped by a wave of relief. “It’s like I’m breathing fresh air for the first time in eight years,” he said. “After years of hate against people like me, the nightmare is over.”

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Poland election: Law and Justice party on course to be ousted from power

Former PM Donald Tusk hails ‘the end of evil times’ as early results suggest opposition parties will be able to form governing coalition

Poland’s ruling populists appear to be heading for electoral defeat in what would be one of the most consequential European political turnarounds of recent years. With the majority of votes counted, results suggest an opposition led by Donald Tusk should have a path to create a new governing coalition.

A Tusk government would probably transform Poland’s domestic political agenda and restart relations with Brussels, which had frayed over PiS’s attacks on the independent judiciary and other rule-of-law issues.

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Poles vote as PiS hopes to win third term and fend off Tusk-led opposition

Ability of populists or Civic Coalition to form a government is likely to depend on other, smaller parties

Poles are voting in the country’s parliamentary election, with the populist Law and Justice (PiS) government trying to win a third term in office and see off a challenge from an opposition led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk.

Polling in the run-up to the vote suggested the race was too close to call, and the ability for either PiS or Tusk’s Civic Coalition to form a government is likely to come down to the results of other, smaller parties.

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Poland election race too close to call as voters prepare to go to polls

Law and Justice seeking third term in power on Sunday but faces stiff challenge from coalition led by Donald Tusk

Poland is gearing up for a parliamentary election on Sunday, the result of which is likely to have a major impact on the country’s direction, and polls suggest the race is too close to call.

The incumbent Law and Justice (PiS) government is seeking a third consecutive term in office, fighting a challenge from the main opposition coalition led by the former prime minister and European Council president Donald Tusk.

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Record number of Poles abroad register to vote in election

Total expected to surpass 600,000 as polls suggest close-run race with PiS seeking third term in power

More than half a million people have registered abroad to vote in Poland’s election on Sunday, as the ruling Law & Justice party hopes for an unprecedented third consecutive term in power.

The Polish foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, said on Tuesday he expected the number of overseas voters to surpass 600,000 before a midnight deadline, a record number in the country’s history.

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Poland’s TV’s ‘propaganda’ under scrutiny as bitterly polarised election looms

With the outcome of next week’s poll too close to call, critics fear the effect of a barrage of media support for populist ruling party

Poland is under attack from both east and west. Foes in Berlin and Moscow, using their proxy Donald Tusk, plan to destabilise the country, overrun it with uncontrolled migration and subjugate Polish politics to external influence.

That, at least, would be the view of someone who received all their news from Poland’s public television channel, TVP, where correspondents and anchors on the nightly news programme parrot government talking points and warn of the dangerous goals of the political opposition.

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EU veteran Tusk heads into final week of battle to steer Poland from populism

Election is contest between Law and Justice party and politician it claims represents malevolent foreign forces

“I want this message to reach everybody in Poland,” said Donald Tusk, speaking to a rally of supporters, gathered in a cavernous indoor sports arena in the city of Bydgoszcz. “This is really the last chance.”

As a vicious, bruising campaign comes to its climax ahead of parliamentary elections on 15 October, Tusk, a veteran of Polish and European politics, has sought to make this point with increasing urgency.

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Polish elections: who are the key players and what is at stake?

Tusk-led Civic Platform aims to unseat nationalist Law and Justice party in bitterly contested ballot

Poland’s elections on 15 October could give the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party an unprecedented third term in office, or hand its longstanding opposition the chance to reverse what critics describe as eight years of democratic backsliding.

Another possibility is that they end in stalemate, with neither party able to form a coalition. Whatever happens, Poland’s politics will remain deeply polarised after a ballot that – amid war in Ukraine and a bitter dispute with the EU – is of more than usual interest abroad.

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Nobel laureate urges Polish opposition to commit to progressive causes

Exclusive: Olga Tokarczuk’s comments come in rare political interview two weeks before potentially pivotal election

The Polish opposition seeking to topple the country’s rightwing populist government needs to start spelling out its commitment to progressive causes, the Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk has urged in a rare political interview.

“We as citizens will need to be assured that a new government would have faith in democracy, Europeanism and freedom guaranteed by law,” Tokarczuk told the Guardian two weeks before Poland goes to the polls in a potentially pivotal election on 15 October.

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Tusk: EU would be enthusiastic if Scotland applied to rejoin

Former European council president’s remarks will boost SNP’s campaign for second independence referendum

Donald Tusk, the former president of the European council, has said there would be widespread enthusiasm in the EU if Scotland applied to rejoin after independence.

In remarks that will boost Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for a second referendum, Tusk told the BBC he had great sympathy with the desire of many Scots to rejoin the EU after Brexit.

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Brexit is one of most spectacular mistakes in EU history, says Tusk

Exclusive: Donald Tusk says it would still be better for both sides if UK stayed in EU

Brexit has been “one of the most spectacular mistakes” in the history of the EU and followed a campaign marked by “an unprecedented readiness to lie”, Donald Tusk has said.

In his first interview since standing down as European council president last week, Tusk said Brexit was “the most painful and saddest experience” of his five years in office, a tumultuous period marked by the Greek eurozone crisis, bitter rows over migration and the election of Donald Trump.

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