Council slaps down Poland, reappoints Tusk as president

The leaders of the European Union delivered a withering snub to Poland’s right-wing government on Thursday (9 March) by disregarding its objections and reappointing former Polish premier Donald Tusk to chair their summits.

Tusk’s successor Prime Minister Beata Szydło, acting on instructions from her party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, a long-time political adversary of Tusk, had vowed to prevent him from securing a second 30-month term.

Warsaw had portrayed the issue as one of fundamental principle, in which national objections should be respected and not ignored in Brussels.

But the other 27 leaders had made no secret on arrival at the summit that they were exasperated by Warsaw’s tactics and even Kaczyński’s closest allies, like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, had pledged support to Tusk.

Source: Euractiv.