Poland's ruling party in lead again boosted by Ukraine crisis

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's ruling Civic Platform (PO) has seen its diplomatic policy during the Ukraine crisis lift it over the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), a poll by Estymator showed on Saturday. It was the second poll showing PO ahead in the past week. PO had been trailing the conservative opposition for months, suffering from the fallout of an economic slowdown last year and blunders of its prominent politicians. But an analyst quoted in the Estymator release said the conflict in Ukraine has encouraged voters to shift their support away from PiS to PO, as they saw Law and Justice's reputation for taking a combative stance towards Russia as a risk for Poland's security. The Polish government has taken an active diplomatic role in the crisis over neighboring Ukraine, calling for a united response from the European Union to Russia's actions in Crimea. "The conflict in Ukraine has caused part of the electorate of PiS to drift away to PO," poll analyst Jacek Choloniewski was quoted as saying by the newsweek.pl website that released the poll. Poland does not have a national election until late 2015, but this year Poles will vote in European Parliament elections in May and local elections later in the year. (Reporting by Marcin Goettig Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)