The re-election this week of Poland's pro-market and pro-European Prime Minister Donald Tusk made headlines for marking the first time in the nation's post-communist era that a ruling party has won two consecutive terms.
The victory confirms Tusk's place at the forefront of a Polish political landscape still burdened by last year's horrific national tragedy that saw President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other top political and military leaders perish in a plane crash.
But it also reflects Tusk's success at positioning Poland as a key intermediary within Europe's greater geopolitical landscape, says Jana Kobzova, the coordinator of the Wider Europe Program at the European Council on Foreign on Foreign Relations.