Donald Tusk: Polish Politician and Prime Minister

• Donald Franciszek Tusk, born on April 22, 1957, is a Polish politician and historian.
• Tusk is currently serving as the Prime Minister of Poland since December 13, 2023.
• He previously held the position of Prime Minister from 2007 to 2014 and is the longest serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.
• Tusk served as President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019.
• He was the leader of the European People's Party (EPP) from 2019 to 2022.
• Tusk co-founded Civic Platform (PO), a major Polish political party, and led it from 2003 to 2014 and again since 2021.
• He co-founded the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD) and entered the Sejm in 1991.
• In 1994, the KLD merged with the Democratic Union to form the Freedom Union.
• Tusk was elected to the Senate in 1997 and became its deputy marshal.
• In 2001, he co-founded Civic Platform (PO), and was elected to the Sejm, becoming its deputy marshal.
• Tusk unsuccessfully ran for President of Poland in 2005.
• After leading Civic Platform to victory in the 2007 parliamentary election, he became Prime Minister.
• In the 2011 election, Tusk became the first Polish prime minister re-elected since the fall of communism in 1989.
• Tusk left Polish politics in 2014 to become President of the European Council and returned to Polish politics in 2021, becoming leader of Civic Platform again.
• In the 2023 election, his Civic Coalition won 157 seats in the Sejm.
• Tusk was elected by the Sejm to become prime minister for a third time after Mateusz Morawiecki failed to secure a vote of confidence on December 11.

First Premiership (2007-2014)

• Tusk oversaw the reduction and digitization of the public sector during his first term.
• He invested heavily in infrastructure, expanding highways for Euro 2012, while reducing the rail sector.
• Scandals, unfulfilled promises, and a cooling economy from 2012–2014 led to a drop in public support during his second term.
• He opposed what he considered democratic backsliding by the Law and Justice party (PiS).
• Tusk has focused on improving the rule of law and relations between Poland and the EU since returning to power in 2023.
• Tusk has continued aid to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
• In 2024, he supported right-wing themes, like opposition to illegal migration and prioritizing border security.
• He suspended the right of asylum for those crossing the Belarus–Poland border illegally.

Early life and education

• Tusk was born and raised in Gdańsk, Poland, on April 22, 1957.
• He has Polish, German (through his maternal grandmother), and Kashubian heritage.
• Tusk identifies as Polish, Kashubian, and European.
• His father was a carpenter, and his mother was a nurse.
• His paternal grandfather was imprisoned in the Neuengamme concentration camp and later forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht, but defected to the Polish Armed Forces in the West.
• Tusk recalls his youth under communism as "so hopeless" where he witnessed clashes between striking workers and riot police.
• He graduated from the University of Gdańsk with a history degree in 1980.

Early Political Career

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

2005 Presidential Election

• Tusk was a leading candidate in the 2005 presidential elections, along with Lech Kaczyński.
• Tusk favored separation of 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.
• Tusk was defeated by Lech Kaczyński in the second round.
• A controversy arose regarding Tusk's grandfather, Józef Tusk, who was accused of being a Nazi collaborator.

Domestic Policy (First Premiership)

• His initial promises included continuing free market policies, streamlining bureaucracy, enacting long-term stable governance, cutting taxes, encouraging Polish citizens overseas to return and privatizing state-owned companies.
• He changed views on taxation and raised VAT from 22% to 23% in 2011.
• The government increased the tax imposed on diesel oil, alcohol, tobacco and coal and eliminated many tax exemptions.
• Tusk oversaw an austerity program during his government.
• The construction of a larger national road network was a government priority for the UEFA 2012 football championships.
• Tusk expressed a desire to partially ban gambling in 2009.
• During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, his government did not purchase swine flu vaccine because of the lack of testing by pharmaceutical companies and its unavailability to be purchased freely through the market.
• Tusk opposed legalizing abortion on demand, believing the current legislation protected human life best.
• Tusk 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 (First Premiership)

• Tusk sought to improve relations particularly with Germany and Russia.
• During a speech delivered to the Sejm Tusk proposed withdrawing military units from Iraq.
• The last Polish military units completed their withdrawal in October 2008.
• Regarding U.S. missile defense shield bases, Tusk hinted skepticism toward the project, but later supported the missile shield.
• Tusk announced that Polish soldiers would not take military action in Libya, though he voiced support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya and pledged to offer logistical support.
• Tusk supported Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his efforts of implementing a new controversial constitution.
• In early 2012, Tusk announced his support for committing Poland to signing the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
• 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.
• Mass protests erupted in late January, with demonstrations held in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Kielce.

European Policy (First Premiership)

• Tusk strongly supported greater political and economic integration and backed the Lisbon Treaty.
• Tusk repeatedly stated his government's intention in bringing Poland into the Eurozone with a starting year of 2015 as "a realistic and not overly-ambitious goal.”
• Tusk pressed that Poland, along with the other non-eurozone states of the EU, should be included in future euro financial negotiations.
• Poland supported and welcomed Croatia's entry into the European Union through the Treaty of Accession 2011.
• Tusk showed displeasure over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's dominating roles in eurozone negotiations.

Constitutional Reform (First Premiership)

• 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.
• In 2009, Tusk proposed changes to the power of the presidency, by abolishing the presidential veto.
• Tusk again 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 include reducing the Sejm from a membership of 460 to 300.
• Tusk preferred to abolish the upper house altogether, yet proposed reducing the Senate from 100 to 49, while including former presidents to sit in the Senate.
• 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.

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, 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.
• Tusk 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."
• 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 to run until November 30, 2019 and received 27 of 28 votes.
• Tusk maintains there will be no winners from Brexit and the two years following the triggering of Article 50 will be a time of damage limitation.
• 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, stating that 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."
• 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 and reprimanded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
• 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, actively reengaging in Polish politics as leader of Civic Platform.
• In 2023, Tusk organized and led significant anti-government protests in Warsaw.
• During his campaign, Tusk advocated for enhanced LGBT rights, including introducing same-sex civil unions.

2023 Polish Parliamentary Election

• In the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, Tusk's Civic Coalition finished as the second-largest bloc in the Sejm.
• On November 10, 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.
• Morawiecki's cabinet lost a vote of confidence in the Sejm on December 11.
• The Sejm subsequently nominated Tusk as its candidate for prime minister,
• Tusk's cabinet was sworn in on December 13.

Domestic Policy (Second Premiership)

• Upon assuming office, Tusk dismissed the top executives from Telewizja Polska, for being a "propaganda machine for the PiS government" and promising to turn Polish state media into a source of reliable information”.
• In February 2024, responding to protests by European farmers, 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, both tried for exceeding authority since 2015.
• 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, 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 (Second Premiership)

• On January 22, 2024, Tusk arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on a working visit and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• 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 by Soviet troops.
• 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, proposing the creation of a European “Defense Bank” to finance military investments.

Personal Life

• Donald Tusk married Małgorzata Sochacka in 1978 in Gdańsk.
• The couple has two children, a son Michał (born 1982) and a daughter Katarzyna (born 1987), as well as five grandchildren.
• Tusk belongs to the Kashubian minority in Poland.
• Tusk speaks Polish, Kashubian, German, and English.
• Tusk requested a Catholic marriage ceremony with his wife Małgorzata, whom he had married in a civil ceremony 27 years prior.
• On December 12, 2019, Tusk published his memoir Szczerze (Honestly), reflecting on his memories from the five-year tenure as President of the European Council.