Who is Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki?

POLAND is part of the EU and has been playing a huge role in the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

And the man in charge of Poland is Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Here's what we know about him.

Who is Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki?

Mateusz Morawiecki - born on June 20, 1968 - was elected as Prime Minister of Poland in 2017.

The Morawiecki family has a distant German descent and the PM said that his aunts were Jewish and were rescued by non-Jews from the Holocaust.

He is an economist, historian and politician who got his education from several universities including:

• The University of Wroclaw
• Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
• Wroclaw University of Economics
• University of Hamburg
• University of Basel
• Central Connecticut State University
• Kellogg School of Management

His political career began in 2015, following a stint in banking.

Polish President Andrzej Duda appointed Independent Morawiecki as both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development in the Cabinet led by then-PM Beata Szydlo.

In March 2016, Morawiecki announced that he had joined the Law and Justice Party and later on September 28 he was appointed Minister of Finance.

He looked over the budget, government finances, European Union funds, and the overall Polish economic policy.

In December 2017, Chairman of the Law and Justice party Jaroslaw Kaczynski declared that he had no confidence in Beata Szydlo following a conflict with other EU leaders.

Szydlo resigned and Morawiecki won the internal party approval to be nominated as her successor.

He became Prime Minister of Poland on December 11, 2017.

His first action was appointing Szydlo as his Deputy.

Is Mateusz Morawiecki married and how many children does he have?

Mateusz is married to Iwona Morawiecka.

Together they have four children.

They have two daughters - Olga and Magdalena - and two sons named Jeremiasz and Ignacy.

Does Poland have a Prime Minister and a President?

Poland has both a Prime Minister and a President.

As well as Mateusz Morawiecki as Prime Minister, Poland also has a President.

Morawiecki is the head of government and is responsible for policies created and decisions made in the Cabinet.

Meanwhile the President - Andrzej Duda - is the head of state.

His role makes him the supreme commander of the army and he has the power to veto legislation passed by parliament.

He also has the power to dissolve parliament under specific conditions.

Presidential elections take place every five years.

Is Poland in NATO?

Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) in 1999.

There were some concerns raised about Poland helping Ukraine as countries worried that Russia would eventually attack Poland, and hence part of Nato in the process.

On November 16, 2022, Poland was hit with a "Russian-made" missile that crashed in Poland killing two people.

The US intelligence initially claimed that the weapon was fired by Russia - an act that would declare war on the West.

However, now US officials are suggesting that the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one.

This was the first attack on Poland since the invasion took place in February 2022.

Poland's military is on high alert and so is Nato, now that one of its countries has been hit.