WARSAW — The landslide victory by Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) Party, which had promised to boost defense spending and prioritize domestic industry, will allow it to be the first party in Poland’s history able to form a government without any coalition partners.
Sunday's Poland’s Oct. 25 parliamentary election gave the party resulted with a landslide win for of the country’s opposition right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) Party. With about 37.6 percent of the vote; , Law and Justice will be the first party in Poland’s history enabled to form a government on its own, without any coalition partners. the ruling center-right Civic Platform (PO) finished has come second, with 24.1 percent of the vote.
Law and Justice’s president, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, is Poland’s former prime minister and brother of late President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in Russia in April 2010. Since then, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose party had been in opposition since 2007, has blamed been blaming Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for the crash.
Local analysts say the new government could further aggravate Warsaw’s difficult already stringent relations with Moscow. Poland has been actively supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
Moreover, some observers say that Law and Justice’s Euro-scepticism could affect have an impact on Poland’s cooperation within the European Union.
"The relations between Warsaw and EU institutions will become, as feared in Brussels, more difficult than they are now, in particular in the beginning," liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza wrote Oct. 27. "Law and Justice is considered in the EU as a party which is very reluctant to deepen the European integration, but this process is currently related mostly to the Euro-zone."
Other observers say the new government will aim to strengthen Warsaw's existing ties with Washington and other regional allies.
"There is a need to bolster Poland's independence through an alliance with the United States and countries in Central and Eastern Europe," conservative weekly Gazeta Polska wrote Oct. 27. "It will be very important to develop priorities which will improve the situation of the Polish Armed Forces [including] the introduction of transparent procurement procedures, which support the Polish defense industry."
The new government will cooperate with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, who was elected last May as a candidate of Law and Justice. The Cabinet, which is expected to be formed by the party Vice President Beata Szydlo, will most likely shift the country’s military policy in many areas. During its electoral campaign, Law and Justice announced plans to raise Poland’s defense spending to at least 2.5 percent of GDP, and focus on awarding major procurements to companies that are either Polish or make weapons and equipment in Poland.
Email: jadamowski@defensenews.com
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
