Poland swears in conservative Duda as new president

Earlier in the day, Duda officially assumed office as president of Poland during a joint session of both houses of parliament in Warsaw.

Poland’s incoming President looks set to confirm a split at the top of the country if his swearing-in speech is an indicator.

Duda’s electoral victory in May over Komorowski was a surprise, and a warning to the ruling coalition that it may lose power in October general elections. His parents and daughter were also there. Experts say the campaign pledges would cost about 300 billion zlotys (78 billion dollars) by 2020, or about 3 per cent of national output per year.

As supreme commander of Poland’s armed forces, he said he was especially concerned about the nation’s security in the face of a resurgent Russian Federation.

The president added that he had already discussed the issue with Poland’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and the bloc’s representatives and expected to receive the required guarantees at the next North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit, due to be held in Warsaw in July 2016.

Duda also said that the participation of Poland and Ukraine’s other neighbors is needed in a “wide peace conference” for Ukraine if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In July, Duda’s main foreign policy adviser urged a more cautious approach towards European integration. He had previously suggested that Tusk’s government had not done enough in the area. The bill, approved by parliament yesterday, will allow more than half a million Poles who took out Swiss franc mortgages in the hope of enjoying low interest rates an option to convert their debt into zlotys at the current market rate.