Overview

• On July 23, Donald Tusk reduced the number of ministries and appointed Radosław Sikorski as foreign minister and deputy prime minister while merging finance and economy under Andrzej Domański.
• The reshuffle is designed to recover political strength after Tusk’s candidate lost the June 1 presidential vote to ultranationalist Karol Nawrocki, who assumes office on August 6 with veto authority.
• Coalition partner Polonia 2050 pressured Tusk for a ‘new beginning,’ prompting cuts to show fiscal discipline and prevent defections in a heterogenous alliance.
• Tusk framed the overhaul as necessary for national security, pointing to Russian sabotage, hybrid warfare and irregular migration from Belarus.
• He now faces a fragile centre-right to left coalition and the risk that Nawrocki’s vetoes could stall his EU-aligned judicial and social reform agenda.