The Polish government has named Adam Szłapka as its new spokesman, as part of a bid to concentrate and tighten communication in the wake of the ruling coalition's loss in the presidential election. The prime minister, Donald Tusk, made the move official on Friday, declaring that the current minister for European Affairs and leader of the Modern (Nowoczesna) party, Szłapka, will officially take over the post as of July 1 but has already started handling communication.
6 days Ago By Nikodem Baran
The choice comes after weeks of internal wrangling and public criticism over the government's disjointed media strategy, which some believe played a role in leading to the narrow defeat of Civic Coalition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski. The new appointment is seen as an attempt to professionalise government messaging and regain momentum before a rocky cohabitation with newly elected President Karol Nawrocki, supported by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS).
A Different Type of Communication
Tusk himself said that he hadn't wanted to appoint a spokesman in the past, preferring a decentralized structure where ministers spoke up on their own areas and he took charge of strategic messaging. But he said that "we do need there to be one single, credible voice to counter lies and explain what we are doing."
Szłapka welcomed the appointment as a "huge assignment" and said more effective communication was crucial. "There seems to be clearly a lack of communication. And there are plenty of munitions here, especially in supplying the public about the many successes of the government," he said.
Profile of Adam Szłapka
Szłapka, born in 1984 in the western town of Kościan, has been involved in Poland's liberal political life for years. A graduate in political science, he started in the ranks of the youth of the Freedom Union, then joined Civic Platform, and in 2019 became the party leader of Modern. A member of parliament since 2015, he was named minister for European affairs in 2023.
Szłapka's enhanced duties now give his party more prominence and bargaining power in the coalition, which has been creaking since the presidential defeat.
Breaking the Tusk's Recent Mold
In his previous tenure as prime minister (2007-2014), Tusk had difficulties with good spokesmen/terrorists. Previous appointees were often low profile and not engaged with the media, leaving a void of information. The nomination of Szłapka means a change in Tusk's perception of the govern- ment's information policies dominated by former journalist Jerzy Urbanski.
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