Tusk announced his decision before a Cabinet meeting.
"I will propose Agnieszka Bartol, our sherpa, ambassador and Poland's representative to the European Union, a longtime employee of the European Council, to take over," Tusk said.
He described Bartol as a "leading expert on European affairs," including EU funds, "not only in Poland, but across Europe."
Agnieszka Bartol. Photo: © European Union, European Parliament, via Wikimedia Commons
The announcement came after Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz resigned as Tusk's minister for EU funds and regional policy last week.
Tusk said he had discussed Bartol's appointment with deputy lower-house Speaker Szymon Hołownia, the founder of the Poland 2050 group, which was allocated the EU funds and regional policy portfolio in 2023 as a junior partner in Poland's ruling coalition.
He said he also consulted Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), another junior coalition partner, and parliamentary Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty, leader of the New Left, which is also part of the ruling coalition.
Tusk said the ministry needed to work smoothly to ensure Poland "does not lose a single euro" of the large sums of EU funding his government has managed to unlock since coming to power in 2023.
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Source: IAR/PAP, TVP Info