PM Tusk defends South America trip

Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week defended his trip earlier in the month to Peru and Chile, which opposition party members had labeled a "vacation."  While the PM did meet with several heads of governments, the schedule was considered light. The PM defended his jaunt to the ancient Incan ruins of Macchu Picchu, saying it was the equivalent of taking a visiting dignitary to Wawel Hill in Kraków or Gdańsk's old town.

Opposition Law and Justice party leader and former Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński commented saying that everyone needed to take a vacation at some point, but asked whether it was fair that the taxpayers' money was being used to fund the trip.

While in Lima, Peru, the PM took part in a summit with leaders from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean. Tusk was one of six leaders of EU member states at the meeting, which PO members said showed that Poland's clout in the EU is growing.