Poland's Tusk to travel to London to thank voters

by Sarah Merchlewitz

Warsaw - Polish liberal leader Donald Tusk, victor in recent parliamentary elections, was to travel to London Sunday to thank Poles living there for their votes, Polish radio reported Saturday.

Tusk, leader of the Civic Platform (PO) and Poland's likely next prime minister, was to be accompanied by Grzegorz Szetyna, tipped to be the next interior minister.

Tusk was scheduled to meet supporters at a town hall in Ealing, London before returning to Warsaw Sunday night.

The PO scored a landslide victory over the governing conservative- nationalist party of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski in the October 21 poll and is now in coalition talks with another party.

The votes of Poles living abroad were seen as pivotal to Tusk's victory. More than 500,000 Poles live in Britain. Of the around 60,000 that voted 77 per cent gave their support to the PO.