Last September, Jaroslaw Kaczynski told the world that Poland was not ready to have identical twins holding both top government posts in his country. Something seemed to have changed his mind in the meantime, for when the call came from the President, his brother Lech , last week to take up the post of prime minister, he jumped at the chance.

The older brother, by a full 45 minutes, won a parliamentary vote of confidence Wednesday thus confirming his appointment as the new prime minister of Poland. The head of the socially conservative Law and Justice Party won the vote comfortably by 240 votes to 205, and now replaces former prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. In his policy speech to parliament before the vote, Kaczynski pledged to fight corruption, reform public finances and build more homes . When it came to foreign policy, he stressed that Poland must continue its strong alliance with the United States. Alluding to the Polish military presence in Iraq which is up for review in December he said: "There can be no desertion. Poland is not a nation of deserters."

Poland joined the European Union in May 2004, and Kaczynski has been pegged as a Eurosceptic. While he made some conciliatory noises in his speech, saying, "We want to be in the European Union, and we want to participate in everything that will lead to a breakthrough in today's crisis in the EU," this seems an equivocal commitment to Europe in the light of subsequent statements. He also emphasized that, "we are also going to work so that Poland can retain its full sovereignty in culture and morals." Poland is still a very traditional Catholic country and many of its citizens are resistant to liberal reforms. In his speech Kaczynski vowed to defend the traditional family and marriage which he described as "a union between a man and a woman."

The new prime minister had already made quite a splash on the European stage last week by fanning the flames of a diplomatic spat between Poland and Germany. His brother President Lech Kaczynski failed to participate in a summit with France and Germany after the left-wing German newspaper Die Tageszeitung published a satirical article which described him as a potato  and said all he knew of Germany was the men's toilet in Frankfurt Airport. While the president used the pretext of stomach cramps to avoid attending the meeting, his brother went on the offensive, saying relations between the countries would be strained unless the German government acted against the newspaper. Obviously not one to see the funny side of things, Jaroslaw was quoted in Polish newspaper Wprost as saying: "An insult to a head of state is a crime and there must be consequences."

The German press sifts over the new prime minister's speech to parliament and examines both his domestic policy agenda and his attitude to Europe, the United States and Germany.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes that the new prime minister is promising a lot on the domestic front, to fight bureaucracy and corruption, reform public finances and improve the situation of families and the rural population. "This is all aimed at Kaczynski's conservative clientele." But the paper writes that the next few years will reveal whether he is able to fulfill all these promises. As for foreign policy, he didn’t cozy up to the European Union. "He emphasized that Polish foreign policy is marked by the NATO membership and ties with the USA." The paper argues that he thus "missed a chance to heal the fraught relationship with the EU and to be rid of his reputation as a Eurosceptic." The paper writes that, "Poles should certainly be allowed to take part in the wrangling in Brussels over subsidies, voting rights and other national interests." However, "emphasizing Polish sovereignty in the EU in this way is a dangerous sign and runs against the common purpose that the EU urgently needs." The paper concludes that "there is no way that Poland is being brought to the cleaners in Brussels in the way Kaczynski suggests. But this is also aimed at his clientele –- he now has to show that he can also think of the other Poles."

Conservative daily Die Welt writes that the political culture in Germany and Poland are very different. The German president takes weeks to prepare a speech to make sure he doesn’t offend anyone, spontaneity is not required. The Polish leaders on the other hand speak freely. "We say what we think," the twins like to say. The paper ponders: "What are they thinking now?" It suggests that "Jaroslaw Kaczynski thinks Poland has to be changed and that he can accomplish it." He promises a "second wave of Polish capitalism" after 1989/1990 and a better functioning state. "He wants to use the millions of Poles abroad as a powerful lobby for the interests of their homeland." According to the opinion polls, his party now enjoys even greater support than it had at the last election. Die Welt asks if this is "a new development in the New Europe?" It comments that in Eastern Europe governments have quickly become worn out and are thrown out of power. "This is beginning to change." An important reason, according to the paper is that EU funds have already created 80,000 jobs in Poland, and this year a further 250,000 are predicted. "Following decades on the underbelly of Europe this is good news for politicians in the East: That it's worth governing."

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes that the Kaczynski twins recently reacted with such "disproportionate fury" to a satirical article in a German newspaper, "that one feared for German-Polish relations." However, the paper argues that they quickly regained their senses. "At least that seems the case for Jaroslaw, the prime minister. He obviously realized that this kind of childish huff jars with the message the twins want to send to the Polish people, one of a new self confidence in the Polish nation." The paper writes that in his speech to parliament, the new prime minister affirmed the desire for integration with NATO and the EU –- while also emphasizing the right "to not give up Polish positions." According to the paper, "there will certainly be further rhetorical performances by the twins in the future. That is part of their character and their thin skin." However, the paper concludes that "once again it is clear that German politicians would be well advised to react coolly to the Kaczynski escapades. In the end the twins will have to calm themselves down somehow."