As Poland prepares to inherit European Union presidency, its prime minister is in the EU spotlight
A year has passed since the 67-year-old Pole returned from his top Brussels job to secure a tight general election victory for his centrist-liberal alliance. Now settled into his second term as prime minister, his job is getting more interesting — and high profile — by the day.
He repeated that message of growing international responsibility and robust national interest — the new Tusk sound — after Thursday’s meeting French president Emmanuel Macron. German officials, meanwhile, were caught off-guard by Tusk’s decision to suspend asylum procedures on its border with Belarus, something Warsaw says is a response to migrants being trafficked there as part of a Russian “hybrid war”.
For one thing Poland’s defence spending — more than twice the Nato minimum — could placate Trump, soften his threats to withdraw US forces from Europe; or even deal directly with Moscow on a Ukraine peace deal. But Warsaw observers say European expectations of Tusk need to be tempered by the domestic political realities he faces in 2025.
With Poland already part of Europe’s growing hardline mainstream on migration issues, expect a similarly robust Tusk line on the EU’s Mercosur trade deal with South American countries. Like Ireland, Poland fears it will disadvantage its crucial farming sector.
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