These are heady days for Donald Tusk as Poland’s new prime minister enjoys the biggest post-election surge in popularity of any leader since the end of communism. The conciliatory Mr Tusk is the focus of widespread hopes that his October victory over the combative Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party will mark a return to stability, compromise and pragmatism.

At home, Mr Tusk is promising an end to Mr Kaczynski’s divisive tactics that set Pole against Pole in a breathless hunt for alleged spies, crooks and former communist agents. His liberal Civic Platform party is also pledging economic growth, business-friendly policies and market-oriented reform, though not so much as would frighten the more cautious of his citizens. In foreign relations, he wants to rebuild ties, damaged by the sometimes clumsy outbursts of Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski. The new prime minister wants to pay special attention to European Union partners, saying: “We are the most pro-European party in Poland.”