The leader of Poland’s pro-European opposition, Donald Tusk, who won the parliamentary elections, pledged to rebuild his country’s ties with the EU, which have been damaged by the outgoing government, during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday.
Poland, which has been a member of the European Union since 2004, has often been accused of playing spoilsport since the nationalist right came to power in 2015, with positions sometimes deemed to run counter to European values, particularly on immigration, LGBT rights and abortion.
Tusk, a former President of the European Council with ambitions to become Prime Minister, was received by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the institution’s headquarters, and with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
"The aim today is to rebuild my country’s position in Europe and to strengthen the EU as a whole," said the former President of the European Council (2014-2019), which today is headed by the Belgian politician Charles Michel.
The result of the 15 October parliamentary elections in Poland "clearly showed the whole of Europe that democracy, the rule of law, freedom of expression and European unity are still really important for our citizens," added the leader of the Civic Coalition (KO), saying he was "proud to be a Pole and a European."
Tusk should be able to form a coalition with his allies from the Third Way (Christian Democrats) and the Left, putting an end to eight years of power for the ECR-affiliated Law and Justice party (PiS).
On Tuesday, Tusk called on Polish head of state Andrzej Duda to "quickly" entrust him with the task of forming the new government.
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During the election campaign, Tusk pledged to rebuild ties with Europe and to secure the release of €35 billion in funds from the post-Covid NextGenerationEU recovery plan. These funds were frozen by the EU for Warsaw's judicial reforms that undermine the independence of its judges.
Von der Leyen acknowledged that this subject was on the agenda for her meeting with Tusk on Wednesday. She also discussed support for Ukraine, European defence, economic modernisation, democracy and EU values.
"I know that we will have many points of agreement on all these subjects," she declared. She stressed that the record turnout at the legislative elections had demonstrated the "strong attachment" of Poles to democracy.
There have been criticisms towards President von der Leyen for being seen endorsing a prospective candidate for Prime Minister at the European Commission headquarters, rather than in a setting related to their political grouping, the European People's Party.
