Beata Szydło Explained

Beata Szydło
Honorific-Suffix:MEP
Office2:Member of the European Parliament
Term Start2:2 July 2019
Constituency2:Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie
Predecessor2:Edward Czesak
Office:Prime Minister of Poland
President:Andrzej Duda
Deputy:Mateusz Morawiecki
Piotr Gliński
Jarosław Gowin
Term Start:16 November 2015
Term End:11 December 2017
Predecessor:Ewa Kopacz
Successor:Mateusz Morawiecki
Office1:Deputy Prime Minister of Poland
Primeminister1:Mateusz Morawiecki
Term Start1:11 December 2017
Term End1:4 June 2019
Alongside1:Piotr Gliński, Jarosław Gowin
Predecessor1:Mateusz Morawiecki
Successor1:Jacek Sasin
Order3:Chairman of the Social Committee of the Council of Ministers
Primeminister3:Mateusz Morawiecki
Deputy3:Rafał Bochenek
Term Start3:11 December 2017
Term End3:4 June 2019
Predecessor3:Office established
Successor3:Piotr Gliński
Office4:Member of the Sejm
Term Start4:25 September 2005
Term End4:4 June 2019
Constituency4:12 – Chrzanów
Predecessor4:Janusz Kozik
Successor4:Krzysztof Kozik
Birth Name:Beata Maria Kusińska
Birth Date:15 April 1963
Birth Place:Oświęcim, Poland
Party:Law and Justice
Spouse:Edward Szydło
Children:2
Education:Jagiellonian University
Signature:Beata Szydło signature.jpg
Honorific Prefix:Her Excellency

Beata Maria Szydło (pronounced as /pl/, née Kusińska pronounced as /pl/; born 15 April 1963) is a Polish politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), she previously served as the prime minister of Poland from 2015 to 2017. Szydło became the third woman to hold the office, after Hanna Suchocka and her immediate predecessor Ewa Kopacz.[1] She currently is a vice-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.[2] She is considered to have been a de iure leader of Poland, with the de facto leader being Jarosław Kaczyński,[3] the leader of the party Szydło is a member of.

She successfully led the presidential campaign of Andrzej Duda, Law and Justice's nominee for President of Poland, to victory. In June 2015, Szydło won internal endorsement to be her party's candidate for Prime Minister at the forthcoming parliamentary election. On 25 October, Law and Justice went on to win majority government for the first time in the country's history; Szydło was duly appointed Prime Minister on 16 November by President Duda.

She was a vocal critic of numerous European Union policies, particularly on immigration, and robustly defended her government from criticism by other EU leaders. During her time in office, she was ranked 31st in Forbes magazine's ranking of the world's 100 most powerful women[4] and the 10th among the most influential female political leaders.[5] In December 2017, she was forced to resign as Prime Minister after Jarosław Kaczyński, the Chairman of Law and Justice, withdrew confidence from her to continue as the party's lead election candidate within the Sejm.[6] Her resignation was accepted by President Duda, who at the same time designated her deputy, Mateusz Morawiecki to be the new Prime Minister. Morawiecki took office three days later, and immediately appointed Szydło his Deputy Prime Minister.[7]

Szydło stood for the European Parliament at the 2019 European Parliament elections, and was elected to represent the constituency of Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie; she received the highest number of individual votes of any candidate historically in Poland. She subsequently resigned as Deputy Prime Minister.

Early years and education

Szydło was born in Oświęcim and raised near Brzeszcze, where her father was a miner.[8] She graduated from Jagiellonian University in Kraków in 1989[9] where she completed studies at the Department of Ethnography.[10] Between 1989 and 1995, she was a PhD student at the Philosophy and History Faculty of that university. In 1997, Szydło completed post-graduate studies for managers of culture at Warsaw School of Economics, whereas in 2001 at Kraków University of Economics - management of local government in the European Union.

Early political career

Szydło was elected Mayor of Gmina Brzeszcze at the age of 35, holding this position for seven years. During her campaign, along with locals she helped renovate the school in a small town of Pcim, which lost its roof in a storm. In 2004, she participated in International Visitor Leadership Program.[11] In September 2005, she was elected to the Sejm, the lower house of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland receiving 14,499 votes in 12 Chrzanów district, as a candidate of the conservative Law and Justice party. She was elected member of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Parliament of the Republic of Poland. Szydło was appointed vice-chairman of the Law and Justice Party on 24 July 2010, after which she succeeded Stanisław Kostrzewski as the treasurer of the Law and Justice party in September 2014.

Following her successful leadership of Andrzej Duda's presidential campaign, at the Law and Justice party convention on 20 June 2015 Szydło was named as Law and Justice's candidate for Prime Minister in the Polish parliamentary election.[12] She was widely seen as being more moderate than Law and Justice chairman Jarosław Kaczyński.[13]

At the October 2015 election, Law and Justice won a decisive victory, becoming the first Polish party to win an outright majority since the end of Communism. Szydło was sworn in as prime minister on 16 November 2015.[14] [15]

Prime Minister of Poland (2015–2017)

On 18 October 2015 she made her keynote address, further receiving 236 votes in favour of her government. One of her first decisions was to remove the European Union flag from press conferences at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and to replace the clock in the meeting hall of the Council of Ministers with a Cross.[16] [17] In meetings with voters, she promised to reduce the retirement age and raise the minimum wage.[18] She declared introducing the 500+ programme will be her priority as Prime Minister. The programme was introduced on 1 April 2016, supplying families with 500PLN for every child, starting from the second child. It is intended to serve as a demographic stimulus, and enhance population growth.

One of the biggest controversies during her administration, the Polish Constitutional Court crisis, 2015 was officially criticized by the European Parliament, which, on 13 April 2016, passed a resolution declaring that the Parliament "is seriously concerned that the effective paralysis of the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland endangers democracy, human rights and the rule of law".[19]

Szydło's government was strongly opposed to the UK's effort to stop EU immigrants claiming in-work benefits for four years if they moved to Britain.[20] Increasing the support for Brexit, Beata Szydło did offer support in return for a permanent base of NATO troops on Polish territory.[21] She resigned from office along with all members of her cabinet on 7 December 2017. The next day, her resignation was accepted by the President Andrzej Duda, who at the same time designated Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki as the new Prime Minister.[7] [22]

Later career

Szydło was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Poland by her former deputy, Mateusz Morawiecki, several days after her resignation as Prime Minister.[7]

Szydło later stood for the European Parliament at the 2019 European Parliament elections, and was elected to represent the constituency of Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie. In that election, she received the highest number of individual votes of any European Parliamentary candidate in Poland's history. She resigned as Deputy Prime Minister on 4 June in order to take her seat in the European Parliament.

In April 2024, she criticized the European Green Deal, saying, "People can’t pay their bills, people see no future, because of the Green Deal, and we will see this in the elections. The green ideology, which you’ve tried to ram down the throats of Europeans, doesn’t give Europe a future."[23]

Personal life

Szydło is married to Edward Szydło. The couple has two sons: Tymoteusz (born 1992), a Catholic priest (he has since left priesthood again), and Błażej (1994).[24] She is a devout Catholic and declares her adherence to conservative Christian values.[25]

Security incidents

On 21 November 2016, Szydło's vehicle was involved in a 5 vehicle crash in Israel which included a police car and ambulance. She was in Israel for the government to government talks and to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[26] Just a few months later, on 10 February 2017, Szydło and 2 security officials were injured in a car crash in her hometown, Oświęcim. Her Audi limousine swerved and hit a tree to avoid a small Fiat whose driver was later charged with involuntary violation of traffic safety. She suffered bruises and was hospitalised in Warsaw.[27] [28]

See also

External links

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Notes and References

  1. News: Poland country profile. 2017-12-13. BBC News. 28 January 2018.
  2. Web site: About . . 24 July 2020.
  3. Web site: Śpiewak. Jan. 27 October 2019. Jarosław Kaczyński, czyli Naczelnik naszych czasów - ranking najbardziej wpływowych. 6 November 2020. Wprost. pl.
  4. News: The World's 100 Most Powerful Women . Forbes. 3 November 2017.
  5. News: Women Who Rule the World: The 25 Most Powerful Female Political Leaders 2017. Forbes. 3 November 2017.
  6. Web site: Polish PM Szydło's fate in the balance. Politico Europe. 6 December 2017.
  7. News: Poland's president designates finance minister Morawiecki as new PM. 9 December 2017.
  8. Web site: Adam. Easton. Beata Szydlo: Polish miner's daughter set to be PM. BBC. 26 October 2015. 29 October 2015.
  9. Web site: Beata Szydło. Polish Press Agency. 16 November 2015. pl. 5 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170321050658/http://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/rzad-premier-beaty-szydlo/news,430938,beata-szydlo---premier.html. 21 March 2017. dead.
  10. News: Jan. Puhl. Polish Elections: Law and Justice Party Regains Credibility by Dialing Down Rhetoric. Spiegel Online. 20 October 2015. 28 January 2018.
  11. Web site: Beata Szydło "About me" homepage. 23 September 2015. pl.
  12. Web site: PiS picks Szydło as candidate for PM. Warsaw Business Journal. 22 June 2015. 3 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151024082030/http://wbj.pl/pis-named-its-official-pm-candidate/. 24 October 2015. dead.
  13. News: Poland elections: Conservatives secure decisive win. BBC. 25 October 2015. 25 October 2015.
  14. Web site: Postanowienie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 16 listopada 2015 r. o powołaniu Prezesa Rady Ministrów. Sejm. 16 November 2015. Kancelaria Sejmu RP: Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych. pl.
  15. News: Beata Szydło sworn in as new Prime Minister of Poland. The News Poland. 28 January 2018.
  16. News: Na konferencjach rządu nie będzie flag Unii Europejskiej. Beata Szydło wyjaśnia zmianę . 24 November 2015 . 21 April 2016. Wirtualna Polska. Polish Press Agency. pl.
  17. News: Krzyż zamiast zegara nowe porządki w sali posiedzeń Rady Ministrów . 9 December 2015 . 21 April 2016. Onet.pl. pl . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160505025010/http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/premier-beata-szydlo-zrezygnowala-z-zegara-w-sali-obrad-rady-ministrow/jc9ze6 . 5 May 2016 . dmy-all .
  18. Web site: 'The name is Szydło, Beata Szydło': Poland's PM in waiting emerges from obscurity. Smith. Alex Duval. The Guardian. 26 October 2015. 28 January 2018.
  19. Web site: European Parliament scolds Poland. Politico Europe. 13 April 2016. 22 August 2016.
  20. News: Poland hints that the UK will have to soften its hard line on immigration during Brexit talks. Business Insider. 28 January 2018.
  21. Web site: Prime Minister Beata Szydło: NATO Summit was Poland's huge success. Government of Poland. 28 January 2018.
  22. News: Analysis Poland's right-wing government has a new prime minister. Here are the 5 things you need to know.. Grzymala-Busse. Anna. Washington Post. 12 December 2017. 28 January 2018. 0190-8286.
  23. News: EU lawmakers debate the future of the Green Deal ahead of elections . Euractiv . 25 April 2024.
  24. News: Poland's PM attends first Mass celebrated by her son. ABC News. 28 May 2017. 29 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170529110205/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/polands-pm-attends-mass-celebrated-son-47692160 . 29 May 2017 . dead .
  25. News: Beata Szydło modli się o zwycięstwo!. Super Express. 21 June 2015 . 21 April 2016 . pl . 3 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171003075212/http://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polityka/beata-szydlo-modli-sie-o-zwyciestwo-zdjecia-tylko-na-sepl_628992.html . dead .
  26. News: Polish PM involved in Jerusalem pile-up. The Times of Israel. 21 November 2016 .
  27. News: Polish prime minister hurt in car crash but prognosis good. Associated Press. 10 February 2017 . 16 February 2017 . 7 November 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107164830/https://apnews.com/4e4e6e2e850040f3956d4137cd48854c/polish-pm-szydlo-car-accident-being-checked-doctors . dead .
  28. News: Man charged in car crash that injured Polish prime minister. Associated Press. 14 February 2017 . 16 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062950/http://www.9and10news.com/story/34497419/man-charged-in-car-crash-that-injured-polish-prime-minister . 17 February 2017 . dead .