Who is the current president of Poland?
Andrzej Duda
Andrzej Sebastian Duda ( ; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish politician who serves as the sixth and current President of Poland, holding the office since 6 August 2015. Before his tenure as President, Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and the European Parliament from 2014 to 2015.
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz () (born 20 December 1959) is a Polish conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from 31 October 2005 to 14 July 2006. He was a member of the Law and Justice party ("Prawo i Sprawiedliwość", PiS).
Jack of the President of the Republic of Poland
The modern Jack of the President of the Republic of Poland was established by the Minister of National Defense on January 29, 1996 with the sole purpose of flying it on Polish Navy ships while the commander-in-chief is on board. On December 14, 2005, the use of the presidential jack was extended to all branches of Polish Armed Forces. It was first flown on land during a Constitution Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw on May 3, 2005.
Józef Tusk
Józef Tusk (23 March 1907 – 12 June 1987) was the grandfather of the former Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk. During World War II, he served as a forced laborer in Germany, and was imprisoned in a concentration camp. He also served in the Wehrmacht, which proved to be controversial during the Polish presidential election, 2005.
Jacek Wilk
Jacek Wilk (born 17 August 1974 in Kocina, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship) is a Polish barrister, economist and politician. He was the official candidate of the Congress of the New Right party for the office of President of Poland in the 2015 Polish presidential elections after resigning from supporting its quitting member Janusz Korwin-Mikke. In the first round he received 0.6% of votes, which gave him the tenth place among the candidates.
Cohabitation (government)
The President of Poland is required to be non-partisan while in office, but so far all Presidents were elected as partisan candidates. A cohabition occurred in 2007, when President Lech Kaczyński was forced to appoint Donald Tusk as prime minister, his main rival in 2005 presidential election.
Stanisław Gądecki
Stanisław Gądecki (born 1949) is the Current Bishop of Poznan, Poland. He is a Polish Roman Catholic Bishop, doctor of Theological Sciences, Auxiliary Bishop of Gniezno from 1992 to 2002, and Archbishop of Poznań since 2002. He was also Deputy President of the Polish Episcopal Conference (2004-2014), and serves currently as President of the Polish Episcopal Conference from 2014 and Deputy President of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe from 2016.
He was born on October 19, 1949, in Strzelno. In 1967, he graduated from their high school.
From 1967 to 1973 he studied philosophy and theology in Primatial Seminary, Gniezno
and was ordained on June 9, 1973, in the Cathedral of Gniezno.
Colombia–Poland relations
In June 1998, former Polish President, Lech Wałęsa was invited to Colombia to partake in a conference titled ""Solidarity and Peace in the New Millennium"". Wałęsa was also invited to the Presidential Palace and met with Colombian President Andrés Pastrana Arango. In April 2002, Aleksander Kwaśniewski became the first Polish President to pay an official visit to Colombia. In January 2018, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met with Polish President Andrzej Duda during World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Donald Tusk
On 9 March 2017, Tusk was re-elected for a second term to last until 30 November 2019. He received 27 of 28 votes; the one vote against him came from Beata Szydło, the Prime Minister of Poland. Tusk's actions in the wake of the 2010 plane crash that killed then-Polish President Lech Kaczyński provoked opposition from Poland's governing right-wing party—critics said that Tusk's centrist government did not sufficiently investigate the cause of the crash. Szydło refused to sign the EU statement issued at the end of the Council's meeting in protest at Tusk's reelection, though other EU leaders spoke in favor of him; Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands called him "a very good president," and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German chancellor Angela Merkel both made statements supporting the vote.
Ryszard Kaczorowski
Ryszard Kaczorowski, GCMG (; 26 November 1919 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish statesman. Between 1989 and 1990 he served as the last President of Poland in exile. He succeeded Kazimierz Sabbat and resigned his post following Poland's regaining independence from the Soviet sphere of influence and election of Lech Wałęsa as the first democratically elected president of Poland since World War II. He also passed the presidential insignia to Wałęsa, thus ending the 45-years long episode of the Polish government in exile.
Lech Kaczyński
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish lawyer and politician who served as the Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005 and as the President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010.
Prime Minister of Poland
Since the inception of the Third Republic, fifteen individuals have occupied the post. The shortest-serving premier was the first government of Waldemar Pawlak, lasting for 35 days between June and July 1992. Pawlak is also the only prime minister to occupy the position twice. The longest-serving prime minister was Donald Tusk, who held the premiership continuously from 16 November 2007 to 22 September 2014. To date, three women, Hanna Suchocka, Ewa Kopacz and Beata Szydło, have served and are serving as premier. Suchocka, along with Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Jerzy Buzek, are the only Polish premiers, as of yet, to be invited into the Club of Madrid.
Elections in Poland
Civic Platform (PO), led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, was aiming for re-election: a feat that hadn't been achieved since Poland became a democracy. The PSL was previously the smaller partner to the Civic Platform in the governing coalition, and had said that it wished to continue this relationship after the election.
Elections in Poland
In the presidential election of 2000, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the incumbent former leader of the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), was re-elected in the first round of voting, with 53.9% of the popular vote. Second place, with only 17.3%, went to Andrzej Olechowski. It is thought that the opposition campaign was hindered by their inability to put forward a charismatic (or even a single major) candidate, as well as falling support for the centre-right Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) government. This was related to internal friction in the ruling parliamentary coalition.
Elections in Poland
In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term of President Jaruzelski. In December, Lech Wałęsa became the first popularly elected President of Poland.
Jarosław Kaczyński
Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician and lawyer, and the current leader of the Law and Justice party (PiS by its Polish acronym), which he co-founded in 2001 with his identical twin brother, the late Polish President Lech Kaczyński. Running for PiS, he served as Prime Minister of Poland from July 2006 to November 2007. After PiS's electoral defeat in 2007, Kaczyński was the main leader of the opposition to Civic Platform's governments.
2005 Polish presidential election
The 2005 Presidential elections were held in Poland on October 9 and October 23, 2005. The outgoing President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, had served two five-year terms and was unable to stand for a third term. Lech Kaczyński defeated Donald Tusk to become President of Poland.
Modern (political party)
.Modern (, styled as ".Nowoczesna") is a liberal and classical-liberal political party in Poland. The party was founded in May 2015 by the former World Bank economist Ryszard Petru. Katarzyna Lubnauer became the party's leader in November 2017.
President of Poland
The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces; he appoints the Chief of the General Staff and the commanders of all of the service branches; in wartime he nominates the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and can order a general mobilization. The President performs his duties with the help of the following offices: the Chancellery of the President, the Office of National Security, and the Body of Advisors to the President.
Bogdan Borusewicz
Bogdan Michał Borusewicz, (; born 11 January 1949) was the Marshal in the Polish Senate from 20 October 2005 to 11 November 2015. Borusewicz was a democratic opposition activist under the Communist regime, a member of the Polish parliament (Sejm) for three terms and first Senate Marshal to serve two terms in this office. He was the acting president of Poland for a few hours in 2010.
History of Poland (1989–present)
In October 2011 Donald Tusk, with a clear pro-European agenda, became the first ever Polish Prime Minister to be reelected in post-communist Poland. PO won a record of four consecutive elections, and Donald Tusk was left as the kingmaker. PO's dominance was seen as a reflection of right-wing weakness and divisions, with PiS splitting in autumn 2010.
Bronisław Komorowski
Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm (Speaker of the lower house of Parliament), Komorowski exercised the powers and duties of head of state following the death of President Lech Kaczyński in a plane crash on 10 April 2010. Komorowski was then the governing Civic Platform party's candidate in the resulting presidential election, which he won in the second round of voting on 4 July 2010. He was sworn in as President on 6 August 2010. Komorowski thus became the second person to serve on two occasions as Polish head of state since 1918, after Maciej Rataj. 
On 25 May 2015, Komorowski conceded the presidency of Poland to the rival candidate Andrzej Duda, after the latter won the second round of the 2015 presidential election.
Prime Minister of Poland
The current and seventeenth Prime Minister is Mateusz Morawiecki of the Law and Justice party. Morawiecki replaced incumbent premier Beata Szydło, who resigned on 7 December 2017.
Adam Jarubas
Adam Sebastian Jarubas (born 27 December 1974 in Busko-Zdrój) is a Polish politician and the current Marshal of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 2006. Jarubas became vice-president of Polish People's Party in December 2012. He was the official candidate of the party for the office of President of Poland in the 2015 Polish presidential elections. In the first round he received 1,60% of votes, which gave him the sixth place among the candidates.
Acting President of Poland
The acting President of the Republic of Poland (, or "p.o. prezydenta RP") is a temporary post provided for by the Polish Constitution.
Jarosław Kaczyński
Despite not being the PiS candidate for either President or Prime Minister, Kaczyński is widely considered a large influence behind the PiS victories in both the 2015 presidential and 2015 parliamentary elections. Even though he does not serve as either prime minister or president, and is formally just a member of the Sejm, he is considered one of the most influential men in Poland, as well as an influential leader in the European Union.
Konstanty Radziwiłł
Konstanty Mikołaj Melchior Maria Radziwiłł (born 1958), is a Polish politician and physician. He became Poland's Minister of Health on 16 November 2015.
Jolanta Kwaśniewska
Jolanta Kwaśniewska ( , née Konty, ; born 3 June 1955) is a Polish lawyer and charity activist who was First Lady of Poland between 1995 and 2005, as the wife of the then President Aleksander Kwaśniewski.
History of Poland (1945–1989)
In 1990, Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's president and was succeeded by Wałęsa, who won the 1990 presidential elections. Lech Wałęsa's inauguration as president took place on 22 December 1990; he accepted the prewar presidential insignia from the stepping down President-in-Exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, distancing himself from Wojciech Jaruzelski. Wałęsa defeated Mazowiecki and in the second round Stanisław Tymiński, but under his presidency economic policy remained unchanged.
Waldemar Pawlak
Waldemar Pawlak (born 5 September 1959) is a Polish politician. He twice served as Prime Minister of Poland, briefly in 1992 and again from 1993 to 1995. From November 2007 to November 2012 he served as Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economy. Pawlak is the only person who held the office of Prime Minister twice during the Third Republic (i.e. since 1989), and he remains Poland's youngest Prime Minister to date.
Bogdan Borusewicz
Following Acting President, and President-elect Bronisław Komorowski resignation from Sejm (and thus Marshal's office) on 8 July 2010, Borusewicz became Acting President of Poland until the election of the new Marshal of Sejm Grzegorz Schetyna. Borusewicz was the first Senate Marshal to become a temporary head of state and the shortest-serving Polish head of state since 1918. Also, he was already the second person to be or act as President since President Lech Kaczyński's death in April 2010.
Ewa Misiak
Ewa Maria Misiak (born 1984) is a Polish economist, president of the National Employment Center, chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Work Service International, earlier the president of this Company. Since 2012, she has been the Chairwoman of the Managements Boards of the People Care and from June 2016 PTWP S.A. companies; pro-family policy expert in the team of the president of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski.
Paweł Adamowicz
On 19 January, the main funeral service was held at St Mary's Church, Gdańsk. Notable people who attended included Donald Tusk, President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, former Presidents of Poland Lech Wałęsa, Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Bronisław Komorowski, and former German President Joachim Gauck. Thousands more Poles watched the service on screens. At the end of the service, Adamowicz's ashes were laid to rest in one of the chapels of St Mary's Church in Gdansk.
Rafał Bruski
Rafał Piotr Bruski (born 1 July 1962 in Bydgoszcz) is a Polish politician who is a president of Bydgoszcz (2010), was a Voivode (military commander) of Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since November 2007) and a former Deputy-President of Bydgoszcz (2006-2007).
Ewa Kopacz
Ewa Kopacz (born Ewa Lis; 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician and a former Prime Minister of Poland. Previously she was the Marshal of the Sejm, the first woman to have held the post. In addition, she was Minister of Health from November 2007 until November 2011. Kopacz has been a member of the Civic Platform since 2001. Kopacz became Prime Minister on 22 September 2014, succeeding Donald Tusk; she is the second woman to hold the office after Hanna Suchocka. Prior to entering politics, she was a pediatrician and a general practitioner. Her term ended on 16 November 2015.
Maria Kaczyńska
Maria Helena Kaczyńska (, née Mackiewicz, ; 21 August 1942 – 10 April 2010) was the First Lady of Poland from 2005 to 2010 as the wife of President Lech Kaczyński.
Anna Komorowska
Anna Julia Komorowska (born 11 May 1953) is a Polish classical philologist and former First Lady of Poland, as the wife of 5th President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski.
Barbara Jaruzelska
Halina Barbara Jaruzelska (née Ryfa; 1931 – 29 May 2017) was a Polish academic, philologist, and professor of German studies and language. Jaruzelska was the First Lady of Poland from 1985 to 1990 during the government of her husband, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the President of the Polish People's Republic (1985–1989) and the President of the Republic of Poland (1989–1990). Professionally, Jaruzelska worked as a lecturer and German philology professor at the Institute of Appiled Linguistics at the University of Warsaw.
Paweł Wypych
Paweł Wypych (20 February 1968 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish politician, former Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Insurance president, and from 2009 the Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of Poland.
Warsaw
The current President of Warsaw is Rafał Trzaskowski. The first president elected according these rules was Lech Kaczyński. When he was elected as the President of Polish Republic (December 2005) he resigned as mayor on the day before taking office.
Julia Przyłębska
Julia Anna Przyłębska (born Julia Anna Żmudzińska 16 November 1959) is a Polish lawyer and judge, and the current President of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland since December 2016.
Agata Kornhauser-Duda
She became the First Lady of Poland on 6 August 2015, when her husband became President. On 24 May 2015, he won the second round of the presidential election, achieving 51.55% of the vote against the 48.45% won by his rival, the incumbent Bronisław Komorowski. During the campaign she supported her husband by appearing in party broadcasts. In terms of her own political beliefs, she has been described as more liberal than Andrzej Duda by her brother.
History of Poland (1989–present)
In the presidential election of 2000, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, the incumbent former leader of the post-communist SLD, was re-elected in the first round of voting, with 53.9% of the popular vote. Second place, with only 17.3%, went to Andrzej Olechowski. It is thought that the opposition campaign was hindered by their inability to put forward a charismatic (or even a single major) candidate, as well as falling support for the centre-right AWS government. This was related to internal friction in the ruling parliamentary coalition.
2005 Polish parliamentary election
Negotiations between PiS and PO about forming the new government collapsed in late October, precipitated by disagreement regarding who would be speaker of the Sejm. On 1 November the PiS announced a minority government headed by Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz as the new Prime Minister. The negotiations were affected by the 9 October presidential election, where the PiS victor Lech Kaczyński is the twin brother of the PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński; Jarosław Kaczyński had declared that he would not become the Prime Minister if his brother wins the election. The constitutional requirement to form a government within a set time period also heated up the coalition negotiations.
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s. After the fall of communism he became a leader of the left-wing Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, successor to the former ruling Polish United Workers' Party, and a co-founder of the Democratic Left Alliance.
Independent politician
Three Presidents since 1990 have technically been independents. Lech Wałęsa was not an endorsed candidate of any party, but the chairman of the Solidarity and he was elected without full support of this union (Solidarity votes split between him and Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki). Aleksander Kwaśniewski was a leader of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, but formally resigned from the party after he was elected, as did Lech Kaczyński, who was the first leader of Law and Justice, Bronisław Komorowski (PO) and Andrzej Duda (PiS). The resignation is required because the Constitution says that the president shall hold no other offices nor discharge any public functions. The aforementioned presidents often participated in their party's campaigns (e.g. Andrzej Duda in the Law and Justice campaign three months after his resignation from the party).
Parliament of Poland
Since 1990, the President has been elected by the people. However, the President is still sworn in before the National Assembly, which is also the only organ which can declare the President's permanent incapacity to perform his duties, or bring an indictment against him before State Tribunal.
Now! (political party)
Now! () is a liberal political party in Poland. The party was founded on 17 November 2018 by the former World Bank economist Ryszard Petru and Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus as a split from the Modern party which Petru was also a founder. His partner Joanna Schmidt, the vice-president of ALDE also defected.
President of Poland
Following the 1989 amendments to the constitution which restored the presidency, Wojciech Jaruzelski, the existing head of state, took office. In Poland's first direct presidential election, Lech Wałęsa won and was sworn in on 22 December 1990. The office of the president was continued in the Constitution of 1997, which now provides the requirements for, the duties of and the authority of the office.
Marek Cichocki
Marek Aleksander Cichocki (born 1966 in Warsaw) is a Polish philosopher, historian of political thought, journalist, conservative columnist and former advisor to Lech Kaczyński, the late President of Poland.
Jerzy Buzek
Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he has served as President of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2012. He is married to Ludgarda Buzek and is the father of Polish actress Agata Buzek.
Jerzy Szmajdziński
Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński (, April 9, 1952 – April 10, 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Vice-Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election.
President of Poland
Within Poland, former presidents are entitled to lifetime personal security protection by Biuro Ochrony Rządu officers, in addition to receiving a substantial pension and a private office. On 10 April 2010, Lech Kaczyński, president at the time, and Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last president-in-exile although not internationally recognized, died in the crash of the Polish Air Force Tu-154 en route to Russia.
2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis
On 15 December 2015, Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, described the political situation in Poland as dramatic, with the latest actions of the Polish government having "characteristics of a coup". Schulz explicitly refused to withdraw this appraisal after protests by the Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło and Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski. On January 10 Schulz was quoted as describing the situation in Poland as a "Putinisation" of European politics; and he was backed by Viviane Reding, who complained about attacks on the public and private media in line with "the Putin-Orbán-Kaczynski-Logic".
Polish presidential inauguration
Polish presidential inauguration is an event marking the beginning of a new term for the President of Poland. According to Article 130 of the current Constitution of Poland (1997) the only condition of taking the office of President of Poland is taking the oath before the National Assembly. All other events are purely ceremonial.
Euroscepticism
Former president of Poland Lech Kaczyński resisted giving his signature on behalf of Poland to the Treaty of Lisbon, objecting specifically to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Subsequently, Poland got an opt-out from this charter. As Polish President, Kaczyński also opposed the Polish government's intentions to join the euro.
Donald Tusk
In an interview with the "Financial Times" in January 2010, Tusk was asked if he considered running again as Civic Platform's candidate for that year's presidential election. Tusk replied that although the presidential election typically drew the most voters to the polls and remained Poland's most high-profiled race, the presidency had little political power outside of the veto, and preferred to remain as prime minister. While not formally excluding his candidacy, Tusk declared that "I would very much like to continue to work in the government and Civic Platform, because that seems to me to be the key element in ensuring success in the civilisational race in which we are engaged". A day after the interview, Tusk formally announced his intention of staying as prime minister, allowing his party to choose another candidate (and eventual winner), Bronisław Komorowski.
The Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen was awarded to Tusk on 13 May 2010 for his merits in the further unification of Europe and for his role as a "patriot and great European". He dedicated the prize to the people killed in a plane crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 in April 2010 including the Polish president Lech Kaczyński. The eulogy was given by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Lech Kaczyński
Elected President of the Republic of Poland (he defeated the runner-up Donald Tusk by polling 8,257,468 votes, constituting 54.04 percent of the vote), Kaczyński assumed office on 23 December 2005, taking an oath before the National Assembly.
History of Poland (1989–present)
After two rounds of elections in May 2015, opposition Law and Justice (PiS) candidate Andrzej Duda became President by a 3% margin. In October 2015, the PiS won the simple majority in the Sejm, was able to form the first single-party government since the fall of communism in 1989.
Lech Wałęsa
Since the death of Wojciech Jaruzelski in 2014, Wałęsa is the oldest living former Polish president at age .
Poland
In 2011, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union responsible for the functioning of the Council was awarded to Poland. The same year parliamentary elections took place in both the Senate and the Sejm. They were won by the ruling Civic Platform. Poland joined European Space Agency in 2012, as well as organised the UEFA Euro 2012 (along with Ukraine). In 2013, Poland also became a member of the Development Assistance Committee. In 2014, the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, was chosen to be President of the European Council, and resigned as prime minister. The 2015 elections were won by the opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS).
Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk
Krzysztof Matyjaszczyk (born 27 May 1974, Radomsko) is a Polish politician, Member of the Polish Parliament (2007-2010), local official, since 2010 president of Częstochowa.
Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland
The Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland () is a presiding officer of the Senate of Poland. He or she is also third person according to the Polish order of precedence, after President of the Republic of Poland and Sejm Marshal, and second in line to become Acting President of the Republic of Poland (after Sejm Marshal; in period 1935-1939 Senate Marshal was the first).
Jan Karski
On 24 June 2014, the "Jan Karski. Mission Accomplished" Conference took place in Lublin under the patronage of Professor Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995–2005), Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, and Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland.
Adam Glapiński
On 29 February 2016 President Andrzej Duda, at the request of the then President of the NBP Marek Belka, appointed him as a member of the board of the National Bank of Poland. He held this position until 9 June 2016. In May 2016 Andrzej Duda nominated him for the position of President of the NBP. On 10 June 2016 the eighth term of the Sejm confirmed him as the new President of the National Bank of Poland. Adam Glapiński assumed office on 21 June 2016 after taking the oath of office.Adam Glapiński is married.
2020 Polish presidential election
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Poland in 2020, although they may be held earlier if the office of President become vacated as a result of death, resignation or removal from office. Incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, is eligible for reelection.
Enlargement of the eurozone
The Polish government in 2012 under Prime Minister Donald Tusk had favoured euro adoption, however it did not have the required majority in the Sejm to amend the constitution due to the opposition of the Law and Justice Party to the euro. Further opposition arose due to the on-going sovereign-debt crisis, with the Polish National Bank recommending Poland wait until the Eurozone had overcome the crisis. The leader of the Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, stated in 2013 that "I do not foresee any moment when the adoption of the euro would be advantageous for us" and called for a referendum on euro adoption. Donald Tusk responded saying he was open to a referendum, as part of a package in Parliament to approve the constitutional amendment. However the 2015 Polish elections were won by Law and Justice who not only opposed any further moves towards membership, but whose relations with the EU has degenerated due to a potential violation of EU values by Poland. A group of Polish economists have suggested that euro adoption could be a way of smoothing over relations from the dispute.
Andrzej Duda
On November 16, 2015, basing on Art. 139 of the Constitution of Poland, Duda pardoned former Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) head Mariusz Kamiński and three CBA officers convicted by a court of 1st instance in the so-called "", marking the first pardon granted by a president before reaching a final verdict. According to some lawyers (including professors Jan Zimmermann – Andrzej Duda's doctorate promoter, Leszek Kubicki – former Minister of Justice and Andrzej Zoll – former president of the Constitutional Tribunal) Duda breached the Constitution of Poland.
Andrzej Duda
In the second round Duda took 51.55% of the vote against the 48.45% share of his rival, then-incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski. On 26 May 2015, he officially resigned from party membership.
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer and politician. He was First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party from 1981 to 1989, and as such was the last leader of the People's Republic of Poland. He also served as Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990 (titled as Chairman of the Council of State from 1985 to 1989 and as President from 1989 to 1990). He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's Army (LWP). He resigned after the Polish Round Table Agreement in 1989, which led to democratic elections in Poland.
2010 Polish presidential election
Soon after exit polls were released in the second round, Jarosław Kaczyński conceded that he had been defeated. Bronisław Komorowski appeared to tentatively claim victory, stating: "Tonight we will open a small bottle of champagne and tomorrow we will open a big bottle." The exit polls put Komorowski ahead of Kaczyński by 53% to 47%. On the following day, Komorowski was declared the winner of the election. The final result put Komorowski with 53.01% of the vote, and Kaczyński with 46.99%.
Komorowski's win resulted in Civic Platform holding both the Presidency and the government (under Prime Minister Donald Tusk). Correspondents in US and British business newspapers suggested that Komorowski's win would mean closer engagement with the European Union, and such domestic economic reforms as deficit reduction.
Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki
Juliusz Nowina-Sokolnicki (b. December 16, 1925 in Pinsk, d. August 17, 2009 in Colchester, England) was a Polish president and head of one of the two governments which claimed in 1972 to be the successor to the exiled Polish government that was created to replace original Polish government, which fled to Romania in September 1939 at the start of World War II. The legitimacy of his government was disputed.
Poland–United States relations
President Barack Obama visited Poland on 27–28 May 2011. He met with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Bronislaw Komorowski. The American and Polish leaders discussed economic, military and technology cooperation issues.
Agata Kornhauser-Duda
Agata Kornhauser-Duda (born 2 April 1972) is the First Lady of Poland, as the wife of current President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.
Peru–Poland relations
In 2013, both nations celebrated 90 years of diplomatic relations.
The former President of Peru, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, is of Polish descent.
Elections in Poland
At the presidential election in 2010, Donald Tusk decided not to present his candidature, considered easily winning over PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński. At PO primary elections, Bronisław Komorowski defeated the Oxford-educated, PiS turncoat Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. At the polls, Komorowski defeated Jarosław Kaczyński, ensuring a PO dominance on all Polish political landscape.
History of Poland (1989–present)
Since the PiS control the presidency and have majority in both houses, it aims to make judiciary reforms in the Constitutional Court. See Polish Constitutional Court crisis, 2015.
Ignacy Mościcki
Ignacy Mościcki (; 1 December 18672 October 1946) was a Polish chemist, politician, and President of Poland from 1926 to 1939. He was the longest serving President in Poland's history.
Peru–Poland relations
In 1989, President Alan Garcia became the first Peruvian head of state to visit Poland. In 1998, Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori paid a visit to Poland. In 2002, Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski paid a visit to Peru, the first Polish head of state to do so. In 2007, former Polish President Lech Wałęsa paid a visit to Peru. In May 2008, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk paid an official visit to Peru.
Jarosław Wałęsa
Jarosław Wałęsa (; born 13 September 1976 in Gdańsk) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 14709 votes in 25 Gdańsk district, candidating from the Civic Platform list. He is the son of former Polish President, Lech Wałęsa.
Bronisław Komorowski
On 25 May 2015, following his defeat in the second round of the 2015 presidential election, Komorowski conceded the presidency to rival Andrzej Duda, after the latter won a 51.5% majority. This was the tightest election of Polish history. His term ended on 6 August 2015, when Duda was sworn in as a new president.
Julian Kornhauser
He was born to Jewish father and a Catholic mother, as a son of Jakub and Małgorzata Kornhauser. He is an author of poems, novels, literary sketches; as well as translations of Serbian and Croatian poetry. At present, he works as a professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Through his daughter Agata Kornhauser-Duda, his son-in-law is Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, member of the Law and Justice party for the office of President of Poland in the 2015 Polish presidential elections.
Paweł Kukiz
Paweł Piotr Kukiz (born 24 June 1963) is a Polish politician, singer and actor. He is the leader of Kukiz'15, a non-partisan political alliance campaigning for single-member districts, and was a candidate in the 2015 presidential election, in which he received 21% of the votes in the first round of the elections, finishing third.
Janusz Piechociński
Janusz Piechociński (born 15 March 1960 in Studzianki) is a Polish politician, Minister of the Economy and Deputy Prime Minister of Poland from 6 December 2012 to 16 November 2015. From 17 November 2012 to 7 November 2015 he was President of the Polish People's Party.
Prime Minister of Poland
Currently, both President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki originate from the Law and Justice party.
Battle of Westerplatte
Westerplatte is a common venue for remembrance ceremonies, usually held on 1 September, relating to World War II. They are generally attended by high-ranking Polish politicians such as Prime Minister Donald Tusk (2014), President Bronisław Komorowski (2015), President Andrzej Duda (2016), and Prime Minister Beata Szydło (2017). The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, in 2009, was attended by Prime Minister Tusk, former Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, and former Presidents Lech Wałęsa and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as by important figures from about 20 other countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and French Prime Minister François Fillon.
History of Poland
In November 1990, Lech Wałęsa was elected president for a five-year term; in December, he became the first popularly elected president of Poland. Poland's first free parliamentary election was held in October 1991. 18 parties entered the new Sejm, but the largest representation received only 12% of the total vote.
Donald Trump's speech in Warsaw, Poland
Donald Trump's arrival marked the eighth U.S. presidential visit to Poland. In May 1972, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Poland. Nixon arrived at Warsaw to deliver a speech when Poland was still controlled by the Polish United Workers' Party. The visit paved the way for trade exchanges and U.S. loans for Poland. Gerald Ford visited Warsaw and Krakow in July 1975 to acknowledge the development of the U.S.-Poland relationship. Jimmy Carter visited Poland in 1977 on one of his first foreign trip as president. George H. W. Bush visited Poland in July 1989 to congratulate Poland overthrowing communists. In succession, Bill Clinton and Obama had made their visits to Poland.
Paul Ziemiak
Paul Ziemiak (born 6 September 1985 as "Paweł Ziemiak") is a Polish-born German politician of the CDU who has been serving as Secretary General of his party since 8 December 2018, under the leadership of chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. He is a member of the Bundestag.
Elections in Poland
In the autumn of 2005 Poles voted in both parliamentary and presidential elections. September's parliamentary poll was expected to produce a coalition of two centre-right parties, Law and Justice ("Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS") and Civic Platform ("Platforma Obywatelska, PO"). PiS eventually gained 27% of votes cast and became the largest party in the sejm ahead of PO on 24%. The out-going ruling party, the left-wing Democratic Left Alliance ("Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD"), achieved just 11%. Presidential elections in October followed a similar script. The early favourite, Donald Tusk, leader of the PO, saw his opinion poll lead slip away and was beaten 54% to 46% in the second round by the PiS candidate Lech Kaczyński (one of the twins, founders of the party). Both elections were blighted by low turn-outs—only 51% in the second and deciding round of the presidential election, and just over 40% in the parliamentary election. The suggested cause of the low turnout is popular disillusionment with politicians.
Supreme Court of Poland
In 2017 the Polish government passed a law which would have forced all Supreme Court judges into mandatory retirement apart from those granted an extension by the Minister of Justice. The bill was passed in the Polish Sejm and the Senate however following mass protests against the bill it was ultimately vetoed by President Andrzej Duda on July 24, 2017. A revised bill reduced mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 65. The bill was later signed by President Duda and came into force in July 2018. The law effectively retires 40% of the Supreme Court bench including the First President of the Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf.
Acting President of Poland
The first person in line to become acting President is the Marshal of the Sejm. Should he be unable to serve, the next is the Marshal of the Senate. This order of precedence has been in effect since the creation of the Office of President, with the exception of the period 1935-1939, when the order was reversed.
Donald Trump's speech in Warsaw, Poland
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda invited Donald Trump to visit months ago before the event. Trump was to attend the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit and planned a visit to Poland ahead of it. He and the First Lady Melania Trump
arrived at Warsaw Chopin Airport on July 5, 2017, and the Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Witold Waszczykowski greeted them. On the next day, Trump met with the president of Poland Andrzej Duda and the president of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. At the same time, he participated at the second summit of the Three Seas Initiative in Warsaw, Poland. On June 29, 2017, General H.R. McMaster explained Trump’s upcoming trip to Poland with several objectives. In his statement, the visit in Poland was going to strengthen American alliances, demonstrate the US and Europe’s commitment to liberty and the rule of law, reinforce the common understanding of threats, respond to Russia’s destabilizing activity, expand economic opportunity on the energy market, and address the environmental issue. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the PiS political party foresaw Mr. Trump’s visit to be a “new success” for the country. Trump was also expecting a warmer welcome in Warsaw, Poland due to the Poles’ supports of his presidency.
Lech Kaczyński
Before he became president, he was also a member of the Law and Justice party. He was the identical twin brother of the former Prime Minister of Poland and current Chairman of the Law and Justice party, Jarosław Kaczyński. On 10 April 2010, he died in the crash of a Polish Air Force jet that occurred on a landing attempt at Smolensk North Airport in Russia.
List of heads of state of Poland
After the German conquest of Poland, a Polish government-in-exile was formed under the protection of France and Britain. The President of the Republic and the government-in-exile were recognized by the United Kingdom and, later, by the United States until 6 July 1945, when the Western Allies accepted the Communist-led government backed by Stalin. Despite having lost recognition by other governments, the government-in-exile continued in London until the election of Lech Wałęsa as President of the Republic of Poland in December 1990 - when it handed over its formal powers and the insignia of the Polish Second Republic to President-elect Walesa in a ceremony at the Warsaw Royal Castle on 22 December 1990.
Aleksander Zawadzki
Aleksander Zawadzki (; 16 December 1899 – 7 August 1964) was a Polish Communist political figure and President of Poland from 1952 to 1964.
President of the European Council
The current president, for the term 1 June 2017 until 30 November 2019, is former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. He was reelected on 9 March 2017.
Piotr Czauderna
Piotr Stefan Czauderna (born 11 August 1962) is a Member of the National Development Council of Poland. He was appointed to the position by President Andrzej Duda in November 2015.
Rafał Trzaskowski
Rafał Trzaskowski (born 17 January 1972, Warsaw) is a Polish politician and the current Mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies. He served as a Member of the European Parliament (2009-2014), Minister of Administration and Digitization (2013-2014) as well as the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (2014-2015). He was elected a Member of the Polish Parliament in 2015. In the 2018 Polish local elections he was elected Mayor of Warsaw.
Presidential Palace, Warsaw
Since July 1994, the palace has been the official seat of the President of the Republic of Poland replacing the smaller Belweder palace. However, President Bronislaw Komorowski decided to move the residence back to Belweder, purportedly in honor of Józef Piłsudski and the early presidents of Poland, but the move was understood as an attempt to avoid confrontations with mourners of the late President, Lech Kaczyński, who was killed in an April 2010 air crash at Smolensk, Russia.
Polish United Workers' Party
Jaruzelski was unsuccessful in convincing Wałęsa to include Solidarity in a "grand coalition" with the Communists, and resigned his position of general secretary of the Polish United Workers Party. The PZPR' two allied parties broke their long-standing alliance, forcing Jaruzelski to appoint Solidarity's Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the country's first non-communist prime minister since 1948. Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's President in 1990, being succeeded by Wałęsa in December.