The rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, while not granting significant power, offers a valuable opportunity to showcase one’s country. EU member states are eager to use this opportunity. But not Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has decided that his country’s presidency will be centred in Brussels. Poland as such is to be invisible. No wonder. If the EU heads of state had taken an interest in the situation over the Vistula, they might have started asking uncomfortable questions about democracy and the rule of law.
“Europe, you are lucky that at this very difficult moment in our history it is Poland that will be carrying out the mission of the presidency, because we in Poland know very well that we need to find in ourselves both strength, hope and faith in our own strength – and we need to rediscover the sense of freedom, the sense of everything that Europe is,” Donald Tusk declared during the inauguration of the presidency on 3rd January in Warsaw.
Such a declaration sounds like a bitter irony, given that a few days earlier the same politician had declared that he would block the reimbursement of expenses incurred for the 2023 parliamentary election campaign of the largest opposition party Law and Justice (PiS)—a move that hardly aligns with European democratic traditions.
Tusk’s words also came several days after one of the deputy ministers of the previous conservative PiS government, Marcin Romanowski, was forced to seek political asylum in Hungary out of fear for his safety. Using dubious corruption allegations as a pretext, the Tusk government unleashed the full force of the state prosecution and secret service apparatus against him.
These incidents symbolise the profound erosion of the rule of law and the principles of democracy that Donald Tusk’s left-liberal government has brought about within 13 months of taking power.
Within a year of his government taking power, Poland has witnessed an unprecedented attack on the rule of law—both in terms of scale and brutality. The new government only respects court rulings that align with its political agenda. It has forcibly taken control of the general prosecutor’s office and the public media. It has bypassed constitutional legislative processes and ruled by means of parliamentary resolutions that have no legal force.
These actions are motivated by a desire for revenge against political rivals and to weaken them in such a way that Poland becomes a de facto one-party state.
While Poland under the Law and Justice (PiS) government faced harsh criticism and sanctions from the European Commission for alleged violations of the rule of law, Donald Tusk’s government is receiving praise despite openly breaking the same rules. The Commission lifted proceedings against Poland under Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which allows for the possibility of suspending a state’s membership. Brussels even unblocked previously frozen EU funds without the new administration making any significant legislative changes to address the alleged problems.
Instead, Donald Tusk can be sure of the discreet or, if need be, open support of the Brussels elite. In December 2023, Tusk’s government, with the help of private security companies and the police, forcibly took over the public media. The events in Warsaw attracted the attention of the foreign press who began to raise the alarm about the methods used by the new government. It was precisely then that the infamous Commissioner for the Rule of Law, Viera Jourova, appeared in Warsaw. She ignored questions about the public media, and her mere presence at such a time was an obvious signal to Tusk that he had a free hand in capturing the state.
Nevertheless, the spiral of lawlessness that Tusk has set in motion in Poland has reached such a scale that the decision to make the presidency ‘Brussels-based’ and low profile is perfectly logical. Donald Tusk wants to avoid some unforeseen situations, such as meetings between Polish opposition politicians and EU leaders, and any uncomfortable questions. That is why the highlight of each presidency—the informal leaders’ summit—will take place not in Warsaw, but in Belgium. In addition, information obtained by europeanconservative.com shows that a relatively large number of people have been delegated from the EC and other institutions to work on the Polish Presidency. And although this is not an unusual practice, it says a lot about Donald Tusk’s motivation.
“Instead of actually leading the work of the Council of the European Union, Donald Tusk’s government has decided to have the work led de facto by the European institutions, which are permanently based in Brussels,” said Paweł Jabłoński, Law and Justice MP and former Deputy Foreign Minister in an interview with the wPolityce.pl news portal. “The Polish Presidency thus has a purely ceremonial character. We’re giving up the opportunity to influence the EU agenda in a moment that is extremely important from the point of view of security,” he added.
Critics emphasise that Poland is a testing ground where Brussels’ left-liberal elites are formulating strategies to combat the growing popularity of right-wing ideas and groups. According to Jerzy Kwasniewski, president of the Warsaw-based Ordo Iuris think-tank, the methods currently used in Poland—judicial purges, media control, the politicisation of the judiciary, and the instrumental use of state services to target political opponents—could easily be exported elsewhere in the West.
Now, during its presidency, Poland is also becoming a testing ground in another sphere: we are witnessing the transfer of competencies in the management of the presidency to the level of EU institutions. Donald Tusk is quite consciously giving up the powers that Poland is entitled to under the treaties. In doing so, he is giving the Eurocrats pushing for EU federalisation an argument vis-à-vis other states.
If we take this into account, European Council head Antonio Costa’s words at the inauguration of the rotating six-month presidency in Warsaw sound unfortunately ironic: “Poland is a source of resilience and strength at a time when authoritarianism and populism pose an increasing threat to our values. Polish women and men are inspiring a stand against these phenomena at a time when foreign influences threaten the integrity of our democracy.”
Poland’s EU Presidency: A Showcase for Brussels, Not Warsaw
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk awaits the President of the European Council at the Polish National Opera in Warsaw on January 3, 2025
Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP
The rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, while not granting significant power, offers a valuable opportunity to showcase one’s country. EU member states are eager to use this opportunity. But not Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has decided that his country’s presidency will be centred in Brussels. Poland as such is to be invisible. No wonder. If the EU heads of state had taken an interest in the situation over the Vistula, they might have started asking uncomfortable questions about democracy and the rule of law.
“Europe, you are lucky that at this very difficult moment in our history it is Poland that will be carrying out the mission of the presidency, because we in Poland know very well that we need to find in ourselves both strength, hope and faith in our own strength – and we need to rediscover the sense of freedom, the sense of everything that Europe is,” Donald Tusk declared during the inauguration of the presidency on 3rd January in Warsaw.
Such a declaration sounds like a bitter irony, given that a few days earlier the same politician had declared that he would block the reimbursement of expenses incurred for the 2023 parliamentary election campaign of the largest opposition party Law and Justice (PiS)—a move that hardly aligns with European democratic traditions.
Tusk’s words also came several days after one of the deputy ministers of the previous conservative PiS government, Marcin Romanowski, was forced to seek political asylum in Hungary out of fear for his safety. Using dubious corruption allegations as a pretext, the Tusk government unleashed the full force of the state prosecution and secret service apparatus against him.
These incidents symbolise the profound erosion of the rule of law and the principles of democracy that Donald Tusk’s left-liberal government has brought about within 13 months of taking power.
Within a year of his government taking power, Poland has witnessed an unprecedented attack on the rule of law—both in terms of scale and brutality. The new government only respects court rulings that align with its political agenda. It has forcibly taken control of the general prosecutor’s office and the public media. It has bypassed constitutional legislative processes and ruled by means of parliamentary resolutions that have no legal force.
These actions are motivated by a desire for revenge against political rivals and to weaken them in such a way that Poland becomes a de facto one-party state.
While Poland under the Law and Justice (PiS) government faced harsh criticism and sanctions from the European Commission for alleged violations of the rule of law, Donald Tusk’s government is receiving praise despite openly breaking the same rules. The Commission lifted proceedings against Poland under Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which allows for the possibility of suspending a state’s membership. Brussels even unblocked previously frozen EU funds without the new administration making any significant legislative changes to address the alleged problems.
Instead, Donald Tusk can be sure of the discreet or, if need be, open support of the Brussels elite. In December 2023, Tusk’s government, with the help of private security companies and the police, forcibly took over the public media. The events in Warsaw attracted the attention of the foreign press who began to raise the alarm about the methods used by the new government. It was precisely then that the infamous Commissioner for the Rule of Law, Viera Jourova, appeared in Warsaw. She ignored questions about the public media, and her mere presence at such a time was an obvious signal to Tusk that he had a free hand in capturing the state.
Nevertheless, the spiral of lawlessness that Tusk has set in motion in Poland has reached such a scale that the decision to make the presidency ‘Brussels-based’ and low profile is perfectly logical. Donald Tusk wants to avoid some unforeseen situations, such as meetings between Polish opposition politicians and EU leaders, and any uncomfortable questions. That is why the highlight of each presidency—the informal leaders’ summit—will take place not in Warsaw, but in Belgium. In addition, information obtained by europeanconservative.com shows that a relatively large number of people have been delegated from the EC and other institutions to work on the Polish Presidency. And although this is not an unusual practice, it says a lot about Donald Tusk’s motivation.
“Instead of actually leading the work of the Council of the European Union, Donald Tusk’s government has decided to have the work led de facto by the European institutions, which are permanently based in Brussels,” said Paweł Jabłoński, Law and Justice MP and former Deputy Foreign Minister in an interview with the wPolityce.pl news portal. “The Polish Presidency thus has a purely ceremonial character. We’re giving up the opportunity to influence the EU agenda in a moment that is extremely important from the point of view of security,” he added.
Critics emphasise that Poland is a testing ground where Brussels’ left-liberal elites are formulating strategies to combat the growing popularity of right-wing ideas and groups. According to Jerzy Kwasniewski, president of the Warsaw-based Ordo Iuris think-tank, the methods currently used in Poland—judicial purges, media control, the politicisation of the judiciary, and the instrumental use of state services to target political opponents—could easily be exported elsewhere in the West.
Now, during its presidency, Poland is also becoming a testing ground in another sphere: we are witnessing the transfer of competencies in the management of the presidency to the level of EU institutions. Donald Tusk is quite consciously giving up the powers that Poland is entitled to under the treaties. In doing so, he is giving the Eurocrats pushing for EU federalisation an argument vis-à-vis other states.
If we take this into account, European Council head Antonio Costa’s words at the inauguration of the rotating six-month presidency in Warsaw sound unfortunately ironic: “Poland is a source of resilience and strength at a time when authoritarianism and populism pose an increasing threat to our values. Polish women and men are inspiring a stand against these phenomena at a time when foreign influences threaten the integrity of our democracy.”
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