Donald Tusk: Polish Politician and Prime Minister

• Donald Franciszek Tusk, born on April 22, 1957, is a Polish politician and historian, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Poland since December 13, 2023.
• Served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014.
• Held positions as President of the European Council (2014-2019) and leader of the European People's Party (2019-2022).
• Co-founded Civic Platform (PO), a major Polish political party, leading it from 2003 to 2014 and again since 2021.
• He is the longest-serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.
• Entered Polish politics in 1989, co-founding parties like the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD).
• Became a Sejm member in 1991, lost his seat in 1993.
• In 1994, KLD merged into the Freedom Union.
• Elected to the Senate in 1997, becoming its deputy marshal.
• In 2001, co-founded Civic Platform (PO), again elected to the Sejm, becoming deputy marshal.
• Unsuccessfully ran for President of Poland in 2005; faced defeat in the 2005 parliamentary election.
• Led PO to victory in the 2007 parliamentary election and was appointed prime minister.
• Following the 2011 election, he became the first Polish prime minister re-elected since 1989.
• In 2014, he became President of the European Council.
• Civic Platform lost control of the presidency and parliament to Law and Justice (PiS) party in 2015.
• In 2021, Tusk returned to Polish politics, becoming leader of Civic Platform again.
• Civic Coalition won 157 seats in the 2023 election.
• Tusk was elected prime minister for a third time after Mateusz Morawiecki failed to secure a vote of confidence on December 11.
• His cabinet was sworn in on December 13, ending eight years of PiS government.
• During his first term, he focused on reducing and digitizing the public sector.
• He invested in infrastructure, expanding the highway network before Poland co-organized Euro 2012.
• Scandals, unfulfilled promises, and austerity policies led to a drop in public support during his second term (2012–2014).
• He opposed what he viewed as democratic backsliding by PiS.
• Since returning to power in 2023, his focus is on improving the rule of law and EU relations.
• As PM, Tusk has ensured aid to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
• In 2024, he adopted right-wing themes, like opposition to illegal migration, prioritizing border security, and suspending asylum rights for illegal Belarus–Poland border crossings.

Early Life

• Tusk was born in Gdańsk, Poland.
• Has Polish, German, and Kashubian heritage, identifying as Polish, Kashubian, and European.
• His father, Donald Tusk Sr. (1929–1972), was a carpenter.
• His mother, Ewa Tusk née Dawidowska (1934–2009), was a nurse.
• His maternal grandmother's native language was Danzig German.
• His paternal grandfather, Józef Tusk (1907–1987), was imprisoned in Neuengamme concentration camp from 1942 to 1944.
• Józef Tusk was forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht, defected, and joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
• He describes his youth as shaped by a multilingual background and being "immune to every kind of orthodoxy, of ideology, and most importantly, nationalism".
• He describes his youth under communism as "so hopeless" with "no hope for anything to change".
• He considers his young self a "typical hooligan", often getting into fights.
• He credits his interest in politics to witnessing clashes between striking workers and riot police.
• He studied history at the University of Gdańsk, graduating in 1980.
• During university, he was active in the Student Committee of Solidarity, opposing Poland's communist regime.

Early Political Career

• Tusk co-founded the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD).
• In 1991 elections, KLD won 37 seats.
• KLD merged with the Democratic Union (UD).
• Tusk became deputy chairman of the Freedom Union.
• He was elected to the Senate in 1997.
• In 2001, he co-founded Civic Platform.
• Became deputy speaker in parliament after the party won seats in the year's election.

2005 Polish Presidential Election

• Tusk and Lech Kaczyński were leading candidates for the presidential elections.
• There were significant differences between Tusk and Kaczyński.
• Leading to the failure of POPiS coalition talks in late October.
• Jacek Protasiewicz headed his electoral campaign staff.
• Tusk's campaign motto was "President Tusk – A man with principles; We will be proud of Poland."
• In the first round, Tusk received 36.6% of votes, Kaczyński got 33.1% of votes.
• Tusk was defeated by Kaczyński in the second round.
• Controversy emerged about Tusk's grandfather, Józef Tusk, being a Nazi collaborator during WWII.

First Premiership (2007–2014)

• Tusk and Civic Platform won the 2007 Polish parliamentary election.
• They defeated incumbent Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński's Law and Justice party.
• Tusk was sworn in on November 16, becoming the fourteenth prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.
• Civic Platform retained their majority in the 2011 Polish parliamentary election.
• In September 2014, Tusk was selected as Herman Van Rompuy's successor for President of the European Council.
• Tusk resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Ewa Kopacz.

Domestic Policy

• During the 2007 election campaign, Tusk promised to continue free market policies, streamline bureaucracy, and cut taxes to attract foreign business.
• Tusk's government never cut any taxes. Instead, it raised VAT from 22% to 23% in 2011.
• It increased taxes on diesel oil, alcohol, tobacco, and coal and eliminated many tax exemptions.
• The number of people employed in public administration also grew considerably.
• The value of foreign investments in Poland had not matched the peak level attained in 2006–07 by 2012.
• The number of Poles living abroad in 2013 was almost the same level as in 2007.
• During his government, Tusk oversaw the austerity programme.
• The construction of a larger national road network was a priority for Tusk's government.
• Tusk declared his desire to ban gambling partially.
• During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, Tusk defended his government's decision not to purchase the vaccine.
• He criticized other nations' responses to the pandemic, citing the low fatality rate.
• Tusk is moderately conservative on social issues.
• He is opposed to legalizing abortion on demand.
• Tusk has publicly stated that he opposes euthanasia.
• In June 2022, Tusk changed his stance on abortion, supporting a bill that would legalize abortion up to 12 weeks.

Foreign Policy

• Tusk sought to improve relations damaged during the previous Kaczyński government, particularly with Germany and Russia.
• Tusk stressed the need for warm relations with Berlin.
• Tusk advocated a more realistic relationship with Moscow, especially in regard to energy policy.
• Poland reversed disagreement on a European Union-Russian partnership agreement.
• Tusk proposed withdrawing military units from Iraq.
• The last Polish military units completed their withdrawal in October 2008.
• He hinted skepticism toward U.S. plans of hosting missile defense shield bases in the country.
• By August, Tusk relented and supported the missile shield.
• Tusk described Obama's decision to scrap and revise missile defense strategy as "a chance to strengthen Polish-US co-operation in defense..."
• Tusk announced that Polish soldiers would not take military action in Libya.
• Tusk supported Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, stating that the Hungarian constitution's democratic controversies were "exaggerated".
• In early 2012, Tusk announced his support for committing Poland to signing the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

European Policy

• Tusk strongly supported greater political and economic integration within the European Union.
• Tusk repeatedly stated his government's intention in bringing Poland into the Eurozone.
• Tusk and his government displayed less optimism in joining the monetary union during the European sovereign debt crisis.
• Tusk pressed that Poland should be included in future euro financial negotiations.
• Between July and December 2011, Poland under Tusk's government presided over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• Tusk showed displeasure over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's dominating roles in eurozone negotiations.

Constitutional Reform

• Relations between Tusk and President Lech Kaczyński were acrimonious because of different political ideologies.
• Kaczyński blocked legislation drafted by the Tusk government, including pension reform and restructuring state television via presidential veto powers.
• In 2009, Tusk proposed changes to the power of the presidency, by abolishing the presidential veto.
• Tusk reiterated his desire for constitutional reform in February 2010, proposing that the presidential veto be overridden by a simple parliamentary majority.
• Further constitutional reforms proposed by Tusk included reducing the Sejm from 460 to 300.

President of the European Council (2014–2019)

• Tusk succeeded Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council on December 1, 2014.
• Tusk worked to promote a unified European response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.
• Tusk made attempts to co-ordinate the EU's response to the European migrant crisis.
• He 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.
• He pursued a hard line on the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.
• In 2018, Tusk opposed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
• On January 31, 2017, Tusk wrote an open letter to 27 EU heads of state or government on the future of the EU before the Malta summit.
• On March 9, 2017, Tusk was re-elected for a second term.
• Donald Tusk maintains there will be no winners from Brexit.
• In February 2018, Tusk urged Turkey "to avoid threats or actions against any EU member and instead commit to good neighbourly relations, peaceful dispute settlement and respect for territorial sovereignty."
• In response to the death of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker said in a joint statement that they had learned of Liu's death "with deep sadness."
• On February 6, 2019, Tusk held talks with Irish Premier Leo Varadkar in Brussels to discuss Britain's departure from the European Union.
• On August 24, 2019 in Biarritz for the G7 Summit, Tusk addressed reporters regarding Brexit, stating "one thing I will not cooperate on is no deal."
• In September 2019, Tusk said that the EU should open accession talks with both Albania and North Macedonia.
• Tusk condemned the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.
• He reprimanded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for threatening to send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe.
• LSE political scientist Sara Hagemann said "he set the tone for a liberal and progressive agenda at a time of significant threat from populist and pro-Russian voices in Europe."

Second Premiership (2023–present)

• In July 2021, Donald Tusk returned to Warsaw, reengaging in Polish politics as leader of Civic Platform.
• Tusk's overall net approval among the general population was reported as 24.4% as of May 2022.
• In 2023, Tusk organized and led anti-government protests in Warsaw.
• In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, Tusk's Civic Coalition finished as the second-largest bloc in the Sejm.
• 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.
• On December 11, Morawiecki's cabinet lost a vote of confidence in the Sejm.
• The Sejm subsequently nominated Tusk as its candidate for prime minister.
• Tusk's cabinet was sworn in on December 13.

Domestic Policy

• Tusk dismissed the top executives from Telewizja Polska.
• TVP was regarded a "a propaganda machine for the PiS government”.
• In February 2024, Tusk said he would push for changes to the European Green Deal.
• Tusk’s administration oversaw the arrests of MPs Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik.
• In April 2024, Tusk opposed the EU Migration Pact, stating "we will protect Poland from the relocation mechanism".
• In October 2024, Tusk announced plans to temporarily suspend the right of migrants to seek asylum in Poland.
• In January 2025, Tusk supported proposals to reduce benefits paid by Poland to Ukrainian refugees.
• In February 2025, Tusk unveiled plans for economic deregulation to spur growth, appointing InPost CEO Rafał Brzoska to lead the advisory team.

Foreign Policy

• On 22 January 2024, Tusk met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• He stated that all those who chose neutrality in the Russo-Ukrainian War deserved "the darkest place in political hell".
• In May 2024, Tusk criticized the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside Hamas leaders.
• In August 2024, Tusk stated that Ukraine's membership in the European Union would not be possible without resolving the question of Polish victims of the Volhynian Genocide.
• In January 2025, Tusk guaranteed safe passage for senior Israeli officials to travel to an event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.
• Tusk emphasised maintaining strong U.S.-European relations while advocating for increased European defence capabilities.
• Tusk emphasised the need for a united and well-armed Europe.

Personal Life

• Donald Tusk married Małgorzata Sochacka in 1978.
• The couple has two children, Michał and Katarzyna, as well as five grandchildren.
• They primarily live in Sopot.
• Tusk belongs to the Kashubian minority in Poland.
• Tusk speaks Polish, Kashubian, German, and English.
• Tusk's religious views became a subject of debate during his 2005 presidential campaign.
• On 12 December 2019, Tusk published his memoir Szczerze (Honestly), reflecting on his memories from the five-year tenure as President of the European Council.

Honours and Awards

• The Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen.
• The Walther-Rathenau-Preis.
• The European Prize for Political Culture.
• An honorary doctorate at the University of Pécs, Hungary.
• An honorary doctorate at the TU Dortmund University, Germany.
• An honorary doctorate at the University of Lviv, Ukraine.
• Grand Cross Order of the Sun (Peru, 2008)
• Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norway, 2012)
• Presidential Order of Excellence (Georgia, 2013)
• Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (Estonia, 2014)
• The First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine, 2019)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan, 2021)