Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Donald Tusk is enjoying second place. His centrist opposition Civic Coalition (KO) is projected to win 31 per cent of the vote following Sunday’s elections in Poland, behind the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party on 36.6 per cent. But that could be enough to end eight years of PiS rule under Jaroslaw Kaczynski; the right-wing nationalist party appears to have lost its parliamentary majority and Tusk has a better chance of securing a coalition. “I have never been so happy in my life as I am today with this second place,” Tusk said last night. “Poland won. Democracy won.” The vote was seen as the most important in Europe this year, with Tusk promising to mend ties with the EU and unlock billions in pandemic funds frozen in a rule of law dispute with the PiS. Turnout was reported at 73 per cent, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.