Officials and observers who wondered about the absence during the confidence vote for Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki can be reassured. At the Prime Minister’s request, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, announced on X that he was participating in the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. The council session covered topics deemed essential to the security and future of the country and its role in Europe.
READ MORE: The Morawiecki government did not secure a confidence vote. How did individual parties vote in the Sejm? What actions did the Confederacy take?
Service is the priority
On Monday the Sejm decided not to grant a vote of confidence to Morawiecki’s government. Three deputies from the PiS club were not present for the vote: Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, Agnieszka Ścigaj, and Zbigniew Ziobro.
To those seeking an explanation for the absence during today’s confidence vote, Szynkowski, commonly known as Sęk, stated that his participation in the Brussels session had been requested by the Prime Minister. He explained that the meeting addressed issues of fundamental importance to the nation and its long‑term interests.
He emphasized that the trip offered a strong opportunity to advance a constructive agenda and to defend a coalition that resists precipitous treaty changes that could jeopardize reform momentum.
Szynkowski added that his absence from the Sejm vote was not a neglect of duty but a prioritization of service to the country at a critical moment. The obligation to attend the Brussels gathering, he argued, reflected a broader commitment to national interests beyond a single parliamentary vote.
In the end, 190 MPs voted in favor of confidence in Morawiecki’s government. The numbers included all 187 members of the PiS club and three deputies from the Kukiz’15 group. Nineteen more MPs were opposed, and there were no abstentions during the roll call, signaling a polarized moment in parliamentary politics.
Media coverage of the event highlighted the divisions within the Sejm and drew attention to the strategic choices faced by coalition partners and opposition groups as they weighed stability against reform pace.