Remind me - why did we expand the EU eastwards?

It seems that in Europe that the further east you go the more you lose hope politically. There's Russia of course, but in its own more democratic way, Poland is becoming disconcerting. The governing Law & Justice party - whose leader had previously as Mayor banned gay rights demonstrations, calling homosexuality "unnatural" and who said Poland should have more EU votes because of World War II - has lost the election according to exit polls.

Good news for progressives? No. The winners are Civic Platform, who have a long-standing support for a flat 15% income tax, radical privatisations and backwards electoral reform. These are, incidentally, the bedfellows of our own Conservatives in the EPP group in the European Parliament.

If you think these parties both sound a bit right-wing, then don't even look at the League of Polish Families, who at least on around 1.5% have failed to win any seats at all. They have fallen foul of a dose of the French National Front's problem - the 'mainstream' parties have moved on to their territory and thereby usurped their appeal.

Since the utter collapse of the social democratic government in 2005, Poland - the sixth largest member of the European Union - has become the Republic of Ireland on acid. The quote for Eire goes "What's the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael? The same as the difference between shit and shite." Right now that sums up Poland's political situation entirely.

Good luck to the new Prime Minister, who now looks certain to be from Civic Platform. He'll have to work with the President, and if you notice a certain resemblance, it is because he just happens to be the outgoing Prime Minister's twin brother:

Crying yet?