Tusk wins vote of confidence in Polish parliament – Europe live

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I needed this vote to shut down speculations about future, Tusk says

Speaking to reporters after the final vote, Tusk said he “needed that vote for obvious reasons” as he faced “a lot of noise and speculation” about his and the government’s future.

He said his intention was to shut down all speculations and move the narrative on as his ministers had “two years to make amends” and win the public ahead of the 2027 parliamentary election.

Poland's Tusk wins vote of confidence - in pictures

Tusk's win not a surprise, but uphill struggle ahead - snap analysis

This result comes as no surprise.

Tusk’s aim was to demonstrate that he has a stable majority in the parliament despite his candidate losing the presidential election – and he’s done just that.

He will hope the vote puts to rest any speculation about the government’s future and rallies his coalition partners to get on with the legislative agenda.

Still, the debate was, at times, very bruising for him personally and his government, and won’t do much to help with his ratings in itself (9:37).

If Tusk wants to recover from last month’s presidential defeat, he will need more. Much more.

A cabinet reshuffle is expected in July, with new faces likely to join the ranks as the government regroups ahead of the inauguration of Karol Nawrocki, the incoming president from the opposition Law and Justice party, in August.

It may only be June 2025, but the battle to retain power in the 2027 parliamentary elections has already begun – and it won’t be easy.

Tusk wins vote of confidence in Polish parliament

243 in favour, 210 against.

Voting on vote of confidence underway

Here we go.

Just a reminder that you can follow our live stream here:

Wrapping up, Tusk repeatedly criticises the opposition for repeating “a bunch of lies” about his government, and then fairly abruptly ends his speech.

And that’s it.

We’re going to vote on a few administrative proposals first, but then it’s the big one – the vote of confidence in Tusk’s government.

Going through the questions, Tusk praises his government’s track record on healthcare, including the restoration of public funding for in vitro fertilisation treatment and on keeping the Polish border secure.

Notably, he also takes a shot at the new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying it’s “possible” that Poland could re-introduce at least partial controls on that border with Germany as early as this summer in response to Berlin’s actions.

The German government stepped up its border controls with its neighbours, including Poland, in recent months, prompting criticism that its actions violated the EU’s Schengen area rules on the free movement of people and goods.

“I have warned the new government of chancellor Merz that … we will be very critical … about any attempt to send any migrants back to Poland,” he said.

Tusk also uses strong language on migration, highlighting his government’s controversial decision to suspend the option to make asylum claims on Poland’s border with Belarus, and promising a further crackdown on visas, including a push to suspend visa-free movement with Georgia.

Meanwhile, as the session continued in the background, far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun vandalised an LGBTQ+ exhibition on display in the Polish parliament’s corridors, Polish media reported.

Braun, who came fourth in last month’s presidential election with 6.3% of the vote, is perhaps best known internationally for using a fire extinguisher to douse the candles of a Hanukkah menorah in parliament in January.

Following that incident, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity and remains under investigation.

All questions have now been asked, so it’s over to Polish PM Tusk to respond now.

The vote will follow.

If you’re wondering what’s the latest in the Polish debate, a PiS lawmaker, Zbigniew Dolata, just finished his question (?) addressing prime minister Donald Tusk with a command in German: “Herr Tusk, raus!” (Mr Tusk, out!).

Tusk is not even in the chamber.

So, yeah, the Q&A is still going strong.

As per speaker Hołownia’s comments earlier (14:02), there will be a brief break before Tusk starts responding to questions, and only then we will proceed to the main vote.

So it may take a while. I will keep you posted.

UK and Gibraltar close to post-Brexit agreement on border with Spain

Eleni Courea and Sam Jones

The UK and Gibraltar are on the brink of an agreement which would see Eurostar-style dual border controls implemented at the territory’s airport.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, and Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, are meeting EU and Spanish negotiators in Brussels today in a bid to get the deal over the line.

The UK and Spain have been engaged in on-off negotiations for four years over Gibraltar’s land border with Spain.

The talks have been focused on allowing free movement between two territories by seeing Gibraltar enter the EU’s passport-free Schengen area.

Under the terms of the agreement being thrashed out on Wednesday, travellers arriving at Gibraltar airport would show their passports to British and Spanish border officers.

The system would mirror the one in place for Eurostar travellers at St Pancras airport, where travellers go through British and French passport control before boarding trains to the continent.

Lammy and Picardo are due to meet Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president, and José Manuel Albares, the Spanish minister for foreign affairs, in Brussels on Wednesday in a bid to finalise the deal.

British and Gibraltarian ministers held a meeting on Wednesday morning “to agree final parameters for negotiation”, Picardo said on X on Wednesday.

France makes arrests over cryptocurrency kidnapping

French police have arrested several people suspected of involvement in last month’s kidnapping of the father of a wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur, a source close to the case said Wednesday.

AFP reported that the suspects, apprehended on Tuesday according to the source, are believed to have been part of an attempt to extort funds from a wealthy man by abducting his father.

On 1 May, he was taken in Paris’s southern 14th arrondissement in broad daylight by four men wearing ski masks who bundled him into a delivery van as passers-by looked on.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of several million euros and cut off one of the man’s fingers.

He was freed days later by a police tactical unit who stormed the house in a Paris suburb where he was being held.