Tusk Expected To Win New EU Term Despite Polish Opposition

The right-wing Polish government’s efforts to block Tusk, its long term domestic political foe, threaten to open up a major east-west split in the European Union just as it tries to focus on unity ahead of its 60th birthday.

Even Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, often an ally of Poland’s nationalist government, made clear that his country will support Tusk.

Slovakia supports re-election of Donald Tusk as European Council President, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Wednesday.

Tusk’s first term expires in May and he enjoys the comfortable backing of most EU states to be reappointed for another 2-1/2 years as president of the European Council, responsible for chairing summits of EU leaders.

“He [Tusk] comes from our region and understands it”, Czech premier Bohuslav Sobotka said, adding that Tusk was a Visegrad candidate and that Poland had no right to veto him.

“We are basically satisfied with the work of Donald Tusk in the post of European Council president”.

But EU diplomats said Tusk’s reappointment was virtually guaranteed, noting that the bloc had enough problems already, including Brexit, the migration crisis, an assertive Russian Federation and the new US administration of Donald Trump.

As the European Union faces a range of changes and challenges – including negotiating the UK’s exit – it seems the bloc’s leaders wanted a safe pair of hands.

But other leaders insist there is little appetite for a delay.

Tusk is expected to be backed by an overwhelming majority of leaders.

Poland is kicking up a fuss over Tusk, the former leader of the current opposition Civic Platform party, because it feels he’s part of a Brussels establishment that has unfairly accused the government of eroding democratic standards. Tusk was prime minister in 2010 when Lech Kaczynski, then president of Poland, was killed in an air crash in Russian Federation.

Mr Tusk was prime minister in 2010 when Lech Kaczynski, the then-Polish president, was killed in an air crash in Russian Federation.

Mr Tusk said he still hoped it was possible for May to trigger Article 50 earlier than the end of March despite the process being held up in the British parliament “but it is not our decision”. Inquiries in both countries blamed pilot error.