By Vittorio Hernandez

Warsaw, Poland

Civic Platform has become the first Polish political party and Prime Minister Donald Tusk has become the country's first leader to win two consecutive terms since the fall of communism in 1989.

In Sunday elections, the center-right party earned 39 percent of votes against the conservative Law and Justice party's 30 percent after the electoral commission announced that they had counted 93 percent of ballots.

Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has conceded defeat.

Analysts believe that Poland gained strong economic growth under Tusk's regime in the past four years. As a result, voters have rewarded the 54-year-old leader with another term. Poland is the only country in the 27-nation European Union bloc that managed to avoid recession. The country's economy is forecast to grow by 4 percent this year.

Tusk's party will now have 206 seats in the lower chamber, which is good enough for them to continue in coalition.

Germany congratulated Tusk on his victory, calling it a "vote for Europe." Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that Tusk's re-election would reaffirm bilateral relations between the two nations, which had been at odds after the German minister slammed Kaczynski over his claims that Germany aimed to again subjugate Poland.

Westerwelle said, "One can say based on the projected result that Poland voted for Europe and that is also good news for us as German neighbors."

 

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World - Poland's Tusk Wins Historic Second Term | Global Viewpoint