WHEN Rex Tillerson, America’s secretary of state, dropped in to see the most important politician in Poland a few weeks ago, he might have hoped for grander surroundings. But power in Warsaw resides not in the presidential palace, the prime minister’s chancellery or the parliament. Instead Mr Tillerson had to duck into the headquarters of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, a dingy office that shares a building with a shuttered Japanese restaurant in an unremarkable corner of the capital. There he was greeted by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who chairs the party but holds no constitutional position beyond his role as a backbench MP serving Warsaw constituents.
Europeans got used to dealing with back-seat drivers when Vladimir Putin ran Russia as prime minister in 2008-12, while his factotum, Dmitry Medvedev, kept the presidential throne warm. But now they are found closer to home. Mr Kaczynski is perhaps the most prominent among them. Polish prime ministers serve at his pleasure. In December he...Continue reading
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