Donald Tusk: Polish Politician and Prime Minister

Overview of Donald Tusk

• Donald Franciszek Tusk was born in Gdańsk, Poland, on April 22, 1957.
• He is a Polish politician and historian.
• He is the current Prime Minister of Poland, assuming office on December 13, 2023.
• He previously served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014.
• From 2014 to 2019, Tusk was the President of the European Council.
• He led the European People's Party from 2019 to 2022.
• Tusk co-founded Civic Platform and has been its leader for extended periods (2003-2014, and since 2021).
• He is the longest-serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.

Early Political Involvement

• Tusk has been involved in Polish politics since 1989.
• He co-founded the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD), a free market-oriented party.
• In 1991, he entered the Sejm, but lost his seat in 1993.
• In 1994, the KLD merged with the Democratic Union to form the Freedom Union.
• He was elected to the Senate in 1997, becoming its deputy marshal.
• In 2001, he co-founded Civic Platform (PO) and was elected to the Sejm, becoming its deputy marshal.
• Tusk ran for President of Poland in 2005 but was unsuccessful, also experiencing defeat in the 2005 Polish parliamentary election.

First Premiership (2007-2014)

• Civic Platform won the 2007 parliamentary election, leading to Tusk's appointment as Prime Minister.
• He secured a second victory in the 2011 election, a first since the fall of communism in 1989.
• In 2014, he resigned to become President of the European Council.

President of the European Council (2014-2019) and Return to Polish Politics

• The Civic Platform lost control of the presidency and parliament to Law and Justice (PiS) in 2015.
• Tusk returned to Polish politics in 2021, resuming leadership of the Civic Platform.
• In the 2023 election, the Civic Coalition won 157 seats in the Sejm.
• After Mateusz Morawiecki failed to secure a vote of confidence, Tusk was elected Prime Minister for a third time.
• His cabinet was sworn in on December 13, 2023, ending eight years of PiS government.

Key Policies and Positions (First Term)

• Wishing to present himself as a pragmatic liberal realist and technocrat, Tusk oversaw the reduction and digitization of the public sector.
• During his first term as PM, he invested in infrastructure, expanding highways for Euro 2012 while affecting the rail sector. Later, austerity policies and scandals led to a drop in public support.
• He opposed what he considered democratic backsliding under the PiS government.
• Upon returning to power in 2023, Tusk aimed to improve the rule of law and relations with the EU.
• As PM, Tusk continued aid to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
• In 2024, he adopted right-wing themes, such as opposition to illegal migration, prioritizing border security, and suspending asylum rights for illegal Belarus–Poland border crossings.

Early Life and Education

• Tusk was raised in Gdańsk, with Polish, German, and Kashubian heritage.
• His father was a carpenter, and his mother was a nurse.
• His paternal grandfather was imprisoned in Neuengamme concentration camp and later forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht, eventually defecting to the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
• He describes his youth in Gdańsk as shaping his political views against orthodoxy, ideology, and nationalism.
• Tusk studied history at the University of Gdańsk, graduating in 1980, and was active in the Student Committee of Solidarity.

Early Political Career Details

• Tusk co-founded the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD), which secured 37 seats in the 1991 elections.
• The KLD merged with the Democratic Union (UD) to create the Freedom Union (UW).
• He became deputy chairman of UW and was elected to the Senate in 1997.
• In 2001, he co-founded Civic Platform, becoming deputy speaker in parliament.

2005 Presidential Election

• Tusk and Lech Kaczyński were the leading candidates.
• Tusk favored separating church and state, rapid European integration, and a free-market economy.
• Tusk's campaign motto was "President Tusk – A man with principles; We will be proud of Poland."
• He received 36.6% of votes in the first round but was defeated by Kaczyński in the second round.
• A controversy arose regarding Tusk's grandfather allegedly being a Nazi collaborator, which negatively influenced voters.

Domestic Policy (First Term)

• Tusk promised to continue free market policies, streamline bureaucracy, and cut taxes.
• However, VAT was raised from 22% to 23% in 2011, and tax exemptions were eliminated.
• The number of public administration employees grew, and foreign investments did not match pre-2008 levels.
• Austerity programs were implemented.
• His government prioritized national road network construction for the UEFA 2012 championships.
• He sought to ban gambling partially.
• Tusk defended the government's decision not to purchase swine flu vaccine, citing lack of testing.
• He is moderately conservative on social issues, opposing abortion on demand and euthanasia.
• In June 2022, Tusk shifted his position on abortion, expressing support for legislation that would permit abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Foreign Policy (First Term)

• Tusk improved relations with Germany and Russia, which had been damaged by the previous government.
• Military units were withdrawn from Iraq.
• He initially showed skepticism about hosting U.S. missile defense shield bases but later supported the project.
• Polish soldiers did not take military action in Libya but offered logistical support.
• He supported Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's controversial constitution, calling democratic concerns "exaggerated".
• Tusk supported signing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), leading to web attacks and mass protests.

European Policy (First Term)

• Tusk supported greater EU integration and the Lisbon Treaty.
• He aimed to bring Poland into the Eurozone, initially targeting 2012, then 2015.
• During the European sovereign debt crisis, he displayed less optimism about joining the monetary union.
• Poland, under Tusk's government, held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2011.
• He expressed displeasure over the dominating roles of Germany and France in eurozone negotiations.

Constitutional Reform Proposals

• Relations between Tusk and President Lech Kaczyński were strained by differing ideologies.
• Kaczyński vetoed legislation drafted by Tusk's government.
• Tusk proposed abolishing the presidential veto and reducing the Sejm from 460 to 300 members.
• He suggested abolishing the Senate or reducing it from 100 to 49 members.
• Tusk also proposed stripping parliamentary immunity and expanding the prime minister's role in foreign policy.

Decision Not to Run for President in 2010

• Despite the high profile of the presidential election, Tusk preferred to remain as prime minister.
• He believed his work in the government and Civic Platform was key to Poland's success.
• Tusk allowed his party to choose another candidate, Bronisław Komorowski, who eventually won.

President of the European Council (2014-2019)

• Tusk succeeded Herman Van Rompuy on December 1, 2014.
• He promoted a unified European response to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.
• Tusk worked to coordinate the EU's response to the European migrant crisis and warned illegal economic migrants against coming to Europe.
• He warned of dire consequences if the UK voted to leave the EU.
• After the UK voted to leave, he pursued a hard line on Brexit.
• In 2018, Tusk opposed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
• In 2017, he stated the Trump administration presented a threat to the EU.
• Tusk was re-elected for a second term in 2017, with Poland voting against him.
• He urged Turkey to avoid actions against EU members and expressed concern over the Turkish invasion of northern Syria in 2018.
• In 2019, Tusk said there was a "special place in Hell for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely."
• He condemned the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.

Return to Polish Politics (2021)

• In July 2021, Tusk returned to Warsaw and became leader of Civic Platform.
• In 2023, he organized anti-government protests in Warsaw against democratic backsliding.
• During his campaign, Tusk advocated for enhanced LGBT rights, including same-sex civil unions.

2023 Polish Parliamentary Election

• Civic Coalition finished as the second-largest bloc in the Sejm.
• Civic Coalition, Third Way, and New Left won enough seats to take power.
• On November 10, 2023, 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, 2023, The Sejm subsequently nominated Tusk as its candidate for prime minister.
• Tusk's cabinet was sworn in on December 13, 2023.

Domestic Policy (2023-Present)

• Upon assuming office, Tusk dismissed top executives from Telewizja Polska, to turn Polish state media into a source of reliable information”.
• In February 2024, Tusk expressed the position that he would push for changes to the European Green Deal.
• Tusk’s administration oversaw the arrests of MPs Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik, both tried for exceeding authority since 2015.
• In April 2024, Tusk declared that "we will protect Poland from the relocation mechanism," in opposition to the EU Migration Pact.
• 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, limiting eligibilty to those actually living in the country.
• In February 2025, Tusk unveiled plans for economic deregulation to spur growth, appointing InPost CEO Rafał Brzoska to lead the advisory team.

Foreign Policy (2023-Present)

• On January 22, 2024, Tusk met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. He called for the "full mobilization" of the West in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
• 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 EU membership required resolving issues related to Polish victims of the Volhynian Genocide.
• In January 2025, Tusk guaranteed safe passage for senior Israeli officials to an event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. -In February 2025, Poland was Europe's leading defence spender, allocating 4.7% of its GDP to military expenditure and significantly exceeding NATO's target threshold.
• In March 2025, Tusk emphasized the need for a united and well-armed Europe.

Personal Life

• Donald Tusk married Małgorzata Sochacka in 1978, and they have two children.
• His son, Michał, worked for OLT Express airline, which was part of the Amber Gold Ponzi scheme.
• Tusk identifies with the Kashubian minority in Poland.
• He speaks Polish, Kashubian, German, and English.
• Tusk and his wife remarried in a Catholic ceremony shortly before the 2005 election.
• In 2019, he published his memoir, "Szczerze" (Honestly).

Honours and Awards

• The Charlemagne Prize of the city of Aachen (2010)
• The Walther-Rathenau-Preis (2012)
• The European Prize for Political Culture (2012)
• Honorary doctorate at the University of Pécs, Hungary (2017)
• Honorary doctorate at the TU Dortmund University, Germany (2018)
• Honorary doctorate at the University of Lviv, Ukraine (2019)
• 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)