Tusk not invited to Duda inauguration
PR dla Zagranicy
Jo Harper
05.08.2015 17:28
Head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, will not be among the guests at Thursday's swearing-in ceremony of president-elect, Andrzej Duda.
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
The communications advisor to the President of the European Council’s office, Paweł Gras, confirmed that Tusk had not received an invitation from the president-elect and that “the president's decision should be respected."
"It must be understood that Mr Tusk respects the decision of the president, who decided to not invite him and therefore he will not be present.”
Tusk was prime minister of the Civic Platform (PO)-led coalition from 2007 to 2014, before his move to Brussels in December 2014. Duda hails from the opposition conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which currently leads in opininion polls over PO three months before parliamentary elections.
“Tusk is primarily the head of the European Council, and not just a former prime minister, so the invitation should come from the president-elect," Gras said.
The Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported from a source at the Chancellery of the Polish Parliament that former presidents Lech Wałęsa and Aleksander Kwaśniewski will be attending.
Other former prime ministers have been invited, including Jerzy Buzek, Jan Krzysztof Bielecki and Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.
Thursday's ceremony will have about 600 guests. (jh/rk)