WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Friday a cabinet reshuffle that will replace four ministers who are running for next month's European Parliament.
The changes are also seen as an opportunity to bring new energy to the Tusk government, which took office in December and has embarked on sweeping reforms in a number of areas, including the judiciary and media.
“Today is the time to bring order, which is one of the reasons we jointly decided to make these changes,” Tusk said.
Prime Minister Tusk's pro-European Union government has embarked on a major reversal of the policies of its right-wing predecessor party, the Law and Justice Party, which put Poland on a collision course with the 27-member EU between 2015 and 2023.
Culture Minister Bartholomie Sienkiewicz and Interior and Administration Minister Marcin Kierwiński were replaced, who spearheaded the management change at state television, radio and news agencies. Boris Budka, Minister for State-owned Assets, and Krzysztof Hetman, Minister for Development and Technology, also resigned.
The new interior minister is Tomasz Siemoniak, who served as defense minister under Tusk's previous government from 2011 to 2015. He remains in his post as coordinator of special services during Russia's war against Poland's neighbor Ukraine.
Currently, the Minister of Culture is Hanna Wroblewska, and Jakub Jaworowski is in charge of state-owned assets, which are currently undergoing an audit to uncover mismanagement. Krzysztof Pasik, an experienced politician and member of parliament, will become the new Minister of Development and Technology.
The appointment came hours before a large protest planned by Law and Justice in Warsaw in a bid to win seats in the June 9 European Parliament elections. They were joining farmers protesting against the EU's new agricultural policy to cut green gas emissions, known as the Green Deal.
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This story corrects the spelling of the last name to Siemoniak.
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