Kopacz new Polish PM

On Monday, Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski appointed parliamentary speaker Ewa Kopacz as the country's new prime minister.

Kopacz will replace Donald Tusk, who resigned to take up a position in Brussels as head of the European Council from December 1.

Fifty-seven-year-old Kopacz is the second woman to lead a democratic government in Poland. The Associated Press quoted Komorowski as saying he believed that she would have the government under control, just as she had had parliament under control.

There was speculation in Polish media that Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski would come to replace Kopacz as speaker, the nation's second-most powerful position, AP reported.

With respect to foreign policy, Kopacz is expected to continue the agenda set by her predecessor: keeping close ties with Germany and devising ways to keep Russian power and expansion politics at bay. Her new cabinet is expected to be sworn in on September 22.

Kopacz is considered to be close to Donald Tusk, having acted as one of his close political advisors. She was a member of parliament between 2001 and 2007, until she became health minister.

Tusk will replace Belgian Herman Van Rompuy, who served as chief of the European Council for five years.

ws/sb (AP, Reuters, AFP)