Polish PM Eva Kopacz wins confidence vote

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz delivered on Wednesday her inauguration speech in Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament) and this evening members of the parliament will vote for confidence for her government. Kopacz stated that "usually the change of government is a result of lost election or deep political crisis. This is not the case today. Today, the change of the government is a result of great success of our country, the election of Donald Tusk as the head of the European Council." The new PM said that her most important task would be to rebuild and increase the trust of Polish people in the government, politics and politicians. "I know that this is an ambitious task, but I believe that it can be done," Kopacz said.

As she explained, the first step to attain this goal is a dialogue with people and listening to their problems. "I am a physician, which is a mission comprising of commitment, respect and a willingness to help each single person. The doctor does not ask about political views and opinions. That is how I understand my role," she added. In her speech, Kopacz also talked about security of Poland, public policy, health care, education, infrastructure, and energy policy. She also emphasized that Poland has to meet all the criteria to join the Euro currency zone.

Kopacz also addressed whether Poland will become the next country on track to join the single European currency. It was widely believed she would announce a plant to slowly abandon the Zloty, as her ally, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, recently said he believed it was time Poland start a debate on joining the Euro. Kopacz defied expectations, however, we she stated that the euro had to prove itself stable before Poland would consider joining. "We must remember that the eurozone only recently experienced the biggest crisis in its history," she reminded her colleagues. One of the advisors who assisted in writing the speech is non other than euroskeptic former finance minister Jacek Rostowski, who was also the architect of Tusk's cautious attitude towards adopting the euro.

The most extraordinary moment of the day, however, came in the form of a handshake between bitter rivals Tusk and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski once accused Tusk of covering up a 2010 plane crash which claimed the life of hs twin brother, then-president Lech Kaczynski. Prime Minister Kopacz personally extended the olive branch to Kaczynski, leader of the opposition, saying "it's high time to break this personal animosity … let us remove this curse of hate from Poland."