On 4 August 2010 Bronislaw Komorowski, member of the “Civil Platform” party, ruling from early 2007, was elected as president as a result of early presidential elections in Poland, with 53% of the vote. Komorowski’s opponent at the second round of the elections who got 47% of the vote was Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the late president Lech Kaczynski.

A plane crash near the city of Smolensk on 10 April led to the death of the Polish leader Lech Kaczynski, his wife, numerous statesmen, military officers and diplomats.