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Donald Tusk

Tusk in 2023

Prime Minister of Poland

Incumbent

Assumed office
13 December 2023

President

Andrzej Duda

Deputy

See list

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
Krzysztof Gawkowski

Preceded by

Mateusz Morawiecki

In office
16 November 2007 – 22 September 2014

President

Deputy

See list

Waldemar Pawlak
Grzegorz Schetyna
Janusz Piechociński
Jacek Rostowski
Elżbieta Bieńkowska

Preceded by

Jarosław Kaczyński

Succeeded by

Ewa Kopacz

President of the European Council

In office
1 December 2014 – 30 November 2019

Preceded by

Herman Van Rompuy

Succeeded by

Charles Michel

Leader of the Civic Platform

Incumbent

Assumed office
3 July 2021

Preceded by

Borys Budka

In office
1 June 2003 – 8 November 2014

Preceded by

Maciej Płażyński

Succeeded by

Ewa Kopacz

President of the European People's Party

In office
1 December 2019 – 1 June 2022

Preceded by

Joseph Daul

Succeeded by

Manfred Weber

Deputy Marshal of the Sejm

In office
18 October 2001 – 18 October 2005

Serving with see list

Marshal

Preceded by

Jan Król

Succeeded by

Bronisław Komorowski

Deputy Marshal of the Senate

In office
20 October 1997 – 18 October 2001

Serving with see list

Marshal

Alicja Grześkowiak

Preceded by

Zofia Kuratowska

Succeeded by

Kazimierz Kutz

Parliamentary offices

Member of the Sejm
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 November 2023
Constituency	Warsaw I
In office 23 September 2001 – 23 September 2014
Constituency	Warsaw I
In office 25 November 1991 – 31 May 1993
Constituency	Warsaw I
Member of the Senate
In office 21 September 1997 – 23 September 2001
Constituency	Masovian

Personal details

Born

Donald Franciszek Tusk

22 April 1957 (age 66)
Gdańsk, Poland

Political party

Civic Platform (2001–present)
Freedom Union (1994–2001)
Liberal Democratic Congress (1990–1994)

Spouse

Małgorzata Sochacka

(m. 1978)

Children

Education

University of Gdańsk

Awards

Order of the Sun of Peru
Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
Charlemagne Prize
Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
National Order of Merit (Malta)
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
Order of the Star of Romania
Order of the Rising Sun
Presidential Order of Excellence

Signature

Donald Franciszek Tusk ( tuusk born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Poland since 2023, having previously served in the position from 2007 to 2014. He served as President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. Tusk was also the President of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2019 to 2022. He co-founded the Civic Platform (PO) party in 2001 and has served as its leader since 2021, having also led it between 2003 and 2014.

Early life
Political career
Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014)
President of the European Council (2014–2019)
Prime Minister of Poland (2023–present)
Personal life
- Honors and awards
See also

Early life

Tusk was born in Gdańsk in northern Poland. He has Polish, German (maternal grandmother) and Kashubian (Donald Tusk call himself as a Pole, Kashubian and European) ancestry. His father, Donald Tusk senior (1929–1972), was a carpenter whilst his mother, Ewa (née Dawidowska) Tusk (1934–2009), was a nurse. His maternal grandmother's language was Danzig German. His grandfather, Józef Tusk (1907–1987), was a railway official who was imprisoned at the Neuengamme concentration camp; later, as a former citizen of the Free City of Danzig, he was apparently conscripted by German authorities into the Wehrmacht. Later on, he was successful in joining the Polish Armed Forces in the West.

Tusk has described the city of his youth as "a typical frontier town" with "many borders ... between ethnicities". This, together with his Kashubian ethnic ancestry and multilingual family, meant that he grew up with an awareness that "nothing is simple in life or in history", which informed his adult political view that it is "best to be immune to every kind of orthodoxy, of ideology and most importantly, nationalism". He has described his young life under communism as "so hopeless" due to the boredom and monotony, with "no hope for anything to change". His young self was a "typical hooligan" who often got into fights – "we would roam the streets, you know, cruising for a bruising."

Tusk credits his interest in politics to watching clashes between striking workers and riot police when he was a teenager. He enrolled at the University of Gdańsk to study history, and graduated in 1980. While studying, he was active in the Student Committee of Solidarity, a group that opposed Poland's communist rule at the time.

Political career

Tusk has been involved in Polish politics since the early 1990s, having founded several political parties and held elected office almost continuously since 1991. He was one of the co-founders of the free-market-orientated Liberal Democratic Congress party. He entered the Sejm (lower chamber of Poland's parliament) in 1991, but lost his seat in the 1993 election which went badly for the Congress.

In 1994, the Congress merged with the Democratic Union to form the Freedom Union. In 1997, Tusk was elected to the Senate, and became its deputy speaker. In 2001, he co-founded another centre-right liberal conservative party, Civic Platform (PO), and he was again elected to the Sejm, and became its deputy speaker.

Tusk was a candidate for president of Poland in the 2005 election, and was appointed Prime Minister in 2007.

Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014)

Donald Tusk (right) being appointed as Prime Minister by the President Lech Kaczyński on 9 November 2007

Domestic policy

During the 2007 parliamentary election campaign and initially when he entered office, Tusk promised to continue the free market policies, streamline the bureaucracy, enact long-term stable governance, cut taxes to attract greater foreign business ventures, encourage Polish citizens living overseas to return to Poland, and privatise state-owned companies. Later in office, Tusk changed his views on the role of taxation in the functioning of the state and his government never cut any taxes. Instead, it raised VAT from 22% to 23% in 2011, increased the tax imposed on diesel oil, alcohol, tobacco and coal, and eliminated many tax exemptions. The number of people employed in public administration also grew considerably. By 2012, the value of foreign investments in Poland had not matched the peak level attained in 2006–07, before Tusk entered office. The number of Poles living abroad in 2013 was almost the same level as in 2007.

During his government, Tusk oversaw Austerity programme.

The construction of a more adequate and larger national road network in preparation for the UEFA 2012 football championships was a stated priority for Tusk's government. On 27 October 2009, Tusk declared that he wanted to partially ban gambling. During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, Tusk defended his government's decision not to purchase swine flu vaccine, citing the lack of testing by pharmaceutical companies and its unavailability to be purchased freely through the market. Tusk criticised other nations' responses to the pandemic. "The eagerness of some countries seems to be excessive and disproportionate to the real epidemiological situation", Tusk stated, referring to the pandemic's relatively low fatality rate.

Foreign policy

Prime Minister Tusk with Barack Obama, 2014

In foreign policy, Tusk sought to improve relations severely damaged during the previous Kaczyński government, particularly with Germany and Russia. He advocated a more realistic relationship with Moscow, especially in regard to energy policy. Under Tusk's premiership, Russian bans on Polish meat and agricultural products were lifted, while Poland reversed its official policy of disagreement on a European Union-Russian partnership agreement.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the 2009 Munich Security Conference

Donald Tusk with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010

Donald Tusk with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán in 2014

During a speech delivered to the Sejm in the first weeks of his premiership, Tusk outlined a proposal to withdraw military units from Iraq, stating that "we will conduct this operation keeping in mind that our commitment to our ally, the United States, has been lived up to and exceeded." The last Polish military units completed their withdrawal in October 2008.

In regard to U.S. plans of hosting missile defense shield bases in the country, Tusk hinted skepticism toward the project, saying that their presence could potentially increase security risks from Russia, and rejected U.S. offers in early July 2008. By August, however, Tusk relented, and supported the missile shield, declaring: "We have achieved the main goal. It means our countries, Poland and the United States will be more secure." Following President Barack Obama's decision to scrap and revise missile defense strategy, Tusk described the move as "a chance to strengthen Polish-US co-operation in defense..." He said: "I took this declaration from President Obama very seriously and with great satisfaction."

Tusk announced that Polish soldiers would not take military action in Libya, although he voiced support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya and pledged to offer logistical support.

In early 2012, Tusk announced his support for committing Poland to signing the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). In response, websites for the Chancellery, Sejm and Presidency were hacked in mid-January. Following Anonymous's claim of responsibility for the web attack, Tusk remained undeterred by internet protests, authorising the Polish ambassador in Japan to sign the agreement, yet promised that final legislation in the Sejm would not go ahead without assurances regarding freedom to access the Internet. Despite the government's guarantees, mass protests erupted in late January, with demonstrations held in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Kielce. Further web attacks were reported on the website of Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.

European policy

In continental policy, Tusk strongly supported greater political and economic integration within the European Union, strongly backing the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, standing in stark contrast to President Lech Kaczyński's vehement opposition. Tusk repeatedly stated his government's intention in bringing Poland into the Eurozone. Originally wanting to introduce the euro by 2012, Tusk envisaged in 2009 a starting year of 2015 as "a realistic and not overly-ambitious goal". However, during the European sovereign debt crisis, Tusk and his government displayed less optimism in joining the monetary union under contemporary economic circumstances, leading to Finance Minister Jan Vincent-Rostowski calling any move "unthinkable". Despite not being a member of the eurozone, Tusk pressed that Poland, along with the other non-eurozone states of the EU, should be included in future euro financial negotiations.

Tusk with Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko, 22 March 2014

Between July and December 2011, Poland under Tusk's government presided over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Under its presidency tenure, Poland supported and welcomed Croatia's entry into the European Union through the Treaty of Accession 2011.

Tusk at the European People's Party Congress in Helsinki, Finland, on November 8, 2018

While being a constituent member of the Weimar Triangle with fellow states Germany and France, Tusk showed displeasure over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's dominating roles in eurozone negotiations, remarking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in January 2012 that "this should not translate into a lasting political monopoly: things cannot be left to only two capitals of Europe."

Constitutional reform

After being elected prime minister, relations between Tusk and President Lech Kaczyński were often acrimonious due to different political ideologies and the constitutional role of the presidency. Using presidential veto powers, Kaczyński blocked legislation drafted by the Tusk government, including pension reform, agricultural and urban zoning plans, and restructuring state television.

In his premiership, Tusk has proposed various reforms to the Polish constitution. In 2009, Tusk proposed changes to the power of the presidency, by abolishing the presidential veto. "The president should not have veto power. People make their decision in elections and then state institutions should not be in conflict," said Tusk. Tusk again reiterated his desire for constitutional reform in February 2010, proposing that the presidential veto be overridden by a simple parliamentary majority rather than through a three-fifths vote. "Presidential veto could not effectively block the will of the majority in parliament, which won elections and formed the government," stated Tusk. Further constitutional reforms proposed by Tusk include reducing the Sejm from a membership of 460 to 300, "not only because of its savings, but also the excessive number of members' causes blurring certain plans and projects". Similarly, Tusk proposed radical changes to the Senate, preferring to abolish the upper house altogether, yet due to constitutional concerns and demands from the junior coalition Polish People's Party partner, Tusk proposed reducing the Senate from 100 to 49, while including former presidents to sit in the Senate for political experience and expertise in state matters. Parliamentary immunity for all members of the Sejm and Senate would also be stripped, except for in special situations. In addition, Tusk proposed that the prime minister's role in foreign policy decisions would be greatly expanded. By decreasing the president's role in governance, executive power would further be concentrated in the prime minister, directly responsible to the cabinet and Sejm, as well as avoiding confusion over Poland's representation at international or EU summits. The opposition conservative Law and Justice party deeply criticised Tusk's constitutional reform proposals, opting in opposing legislation for the presidency to garner greater power over the prime minister.

In an interview with the Financial Times in January 2010, Tusk was asked if he considered running again as Civic Platform's candidate for that year's presidential election. Tusk replied that although the presidential election typically drew the most voters to the polls and remained Poland's most high-profiled race, the presidency had little political power outside of the veto, and preferred to remain as prime minister. While not formally excluding his candidacy, Tusk declared that "I would very much like to continue to work in the government and Civic Platform, because that seems to me to be the key element in ensuring success in the civilisational race in which we are engaged." A day after the interview, Tusk formally announced his intention of staying as prime minister, allowing his party to choose another candidate (and eventual winner), Bronisław Komorowski.

President of the European Council (2014–2019)

Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker with Angela Merkel and Robert Fico within Bratislava Summit 2016

Tusk succeeded Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council on 1 December 2014.

Tusk made attempts to co-ordinate the EU's response to the European migrant crisis, and warned illegal economic migrants not to come to Europe.

Ahead of the UK's EU membership referendum Tusk warned of dire consequences should the UK vote to leave. After the vote he pursued a hard line on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union stating that the country's only real alternative to a "hard Brexit" is "no Brexit".

Tusk has opposed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

On 31 January 2017, Tusk wrote an open letter to the 27 EU heads of state or government on the future of the EU before the Malta summit. In this letter, he stated the Trump administration presented a threat to the EU on a par with a newly assertive China, an aggressive Russia and "wars, terror and anarchy in the Middle East and Africa".

Tusk meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US President Donald Trump, May 2017

On 9 March 2017, Tusk was re-elected for a second term to run until 30 November 2019. He received 27 of 28 votes.

Tusk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels, June 2019

Prime Minister of Poland (2023–present)

Tusk in 2023

In July 2021, Donald Tusk returned to Warsaw, re-engaging actively in Polish politics as leader of Civic Platform. As of May 2022, Tusk was among the leading choices among opposition figures for the potential future Prime Minister role, according to a public poll. However, his overall net approval among the general population was reported as −24.4% in the same period. During his campaign, Tusk advocated for enhanced LGBT rights.

In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, Tusk's Civic Coalition finished as the second-largest bloc in the Sejm. Between them, Civic Coalition and two other opposition parties, Third Way and New Left, took 54% of the vote, winning enough seats to allow them to take power. On 10 November, Civic Coalition, New Left, the Polish People's Party and Poland 2050 formally signed an agreement to support Tusk as their candidate for prime minister. President Andrzej Duda nominated PiS incumbent Mateusz Morawiecki for another term as prime minister. However, Morawiecki fell short of the support needed to stay in office, as PiS and its allies were 40 seats short of a majority. With this in mind, Tusk publicly announced the agreement before the new Sejm convened to show he and the opposition stood ready to govern. Morawiecki's cabinet was sworn in on 27 November, but lost the required confidence vote in the Sejm on 11 December. Under the constitution, if Morawiecki did not win a confidence vote within two weeks of being sworn in, the Sejm had the right to designate its own nominee for prime minister, and Duda was required to appoint the person so designated. On paper, the four parties who signed the agreement had the votes to designate Tusk as the Sejm's candidate. Morawiecki's proposed cabinet lost a vote of confidence in the Sejm on 11 December by 190 votes to 266. The Sejm subsequently nominated Tusk as its candidate for prime minister, by 248 votes in favour and 201 against. Tusk's cabinet was sworn in on 13 December.

Personal life

Donald Tusk married Małgorzata Sochacka in 1978. They have two children: a son, Michał and a daughter, Katarzyna.

Tusk speaks four languages: Polish, Kashubian, German, and English.

On 12 December 2019, Tusk published his memoir Szczerze ("Honestly"), based on his five-year-term as President of the European Council, which became a bestseller in Poland. He assumed the office of the President of the European People's Party on 1 December 2019, a day after leaving office as President of the European Council. On 1 June 2022 he stepped down from the position and was replaced by Manfred Weber.

Honors and awards

The Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen was awarded to Tusk on 13 May 2010 for his merits in the further unification of Europe and for his role as a "patriot and great European". He dedicated the prize to the people killed in a plane crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 in April 2010 including the Polish president Lech Kaczyński. The eulogy was given by German chancellor Angela Merkel.

In May 2012, he received the Walther-Rathenau-Preis "in recognition for his commitment to European integration during Poland's Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2011 and for fostering Polish–German dialogue". In her speech German chancellor Merkel praised Tusk as "a farsighted European". In the same year, he also received the European Prize for Political Culture. In December 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Pécs, Hungary, in recognition of Tusk's "achievements as a Polish and European politician, which are strongly connected with Hungarian, regional and European history". On 16 December 2018, Tusk was awarded an honorary doctorate at the TU Dortmund University, Germany, "in recognition of his services to European politics and his contribution to the debate on European values". In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Lviv, Ukraine, which he accepted on the fifth anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity.