POLITICS

Poland: Tusk (European Council) at centenary of Polish independence, May elections clashing ground for nationalists and pro-Europeans

“In Europe, whether openly or more discreetly, those who are enthusiastic about Brexit, those who are more or less enthusiastic about Washington’s further steps towards isolationism, those who are flirting with Vladimir Putin, they are all attempting to persuade us that the EU has no future”, the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said in an address to his fellow countrymen on the occasion of the celebrations marking the centenary of Poland’s independence on Saturday. According to the former Polish prime minister, two political currents may occupy powerful positions in parliament after the next European elections. The first one is “unambiguously anti-European, looking more and more clearly towards nationalism, and working against the European Union as such”; while the other “belongs to those who want to integrate the European Union as much as possible”. Donald Tusk said that, “there might be no space for Poland” in Europe if “the dominant policy direction in Warsaw” continues to emphasise “national resentment and scenarios that are negative for the European Union”. The latter is, in his opinion, the “basis and foundation” of Poland’s “present and future independence”. Many observers believe that Tusk, according to whom Lech Walesa is “the true father of Polish freedom”, has started the presidential campaign which in 2020 may see him running against the current Head of State, Andrzej Duda, who continues to be the favourite candidate in all opinion polls.