Ex-MEP first woman to head Polish Foreign Ministry

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Warsaw (dpa) - Poland's right-wing President Lech Kaczynski named former member of the European Parliament, Anna Fotyga, Poland's new foreign minister Tuesday, calling her the "optimal" candidate for the job.

Nominated on the heels of Stefan Meller's resignation last week, the 49-year-old Fotyga is the first woman to hold the post of Polish Foreign Minister.

She is a member of the governing right-wing Law and Justice party and a close associate of PiS co-founder President Lech Kaczynski.

The liberal-leaning Meller quit in protest over the three-way coalition agreement struck last week by the PiS with smaller populist and Catholic nationalist parties.

Kaczynski also named popular PiS Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz head of Poland's European Union Integration Committee (UKIE). Late last year Marcinkiewicz enjoyed spectacular success in winning generous EU funds for Poland in the bloc's 2007-13 budget.

Fotyga served as Meller's deputy in the foreign ministry since the party won elections last year. Her political roots lie in Poland's anti-communist Solidarity trade union and subsequently worked as an expert for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Bank among others.

Commentators in Warsaw described Fotyga as "far from an ideal" candidate with little political clout. This in turn has led to speculation that her nomination may be designed to leave more room for President Lech Kaczynski to shape the country's foreign policy.

Since taking office in late December, President Kaczynski has cultivated strong ties with the United States and Poland's eastern neighbours including Ukraine and fellow-EU Baltic states.

Visiting EU powerhouses Germany and France, Kaczynski has strongly denied his reputation as an EU sceptic. He has also urged rapprochement with Russia, insisting there are no objective reasons why bilateral relations between the former Soviet-era master and subject should not be good.