Europe is not about money, but about values, said Donald Tusk in Brussels. The 66-year-old spoke in Polish, but the observers didn’t actually need a translation to understand the old and new head of government – as radiantly as he gave his speech on Friday morning, standing next to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who also appeared extremely happy.
Donald Tusk thanked the Polish people who fought back the state in the parliamentary elections in October by electing him, Tusk, to the government. But he also thanked Ursula von der Leyen. “Everyone knows that we have not had such a loyal and warm ally for Polish affairs in Brussels as the President of the European Commission for a long time,” said Tusk. She had recently said that times were difficult. But Tusk’s personal commitment and experience are invaluable to the European family.
Values instead of money are all well and good – but monetary advantages are a factor that should not be underestimated in the European Union. That’s why Donald Tusk was particularly pleased when the President of the Commission gave him five billion euros to take with him on his way home to Warsaw on the sidelines of the summit of heads of state and government. “Pre-financing” is what the money is officially called, and is primarily intended to serve the climate-friendly restructuring of the Polish economy. But you could also call it a leap of faith.
The Commission is still holding back 60 billion euros for Poland
The Commission is still withholding 60 billion euros that can go to Poland as grants and loans from the Corona reconstruction fund. The plans for the use of the money have been approved in principle, but the government led by the Law and Justice party (PiS) under Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has not yet met the conditions for disbursement (“milestones”) set by the Commission. The Polish judiciary, subjugated by the PiS, must become independent again. That is now Donald Tusk’s task, and it will take some time until the corresponding reforms and/or reversals are initiated.
Donald Tusk has announced that his country will join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). Ursula von der Leyen praised this on Friday as a confidence-building measure. Violations of the rule of law in Poland have prevented the Commission from providing the country with adequate support for far too long. Your commission cannot simply pay Tusk the 60 billion out of sympathy. When examining the Polish case, it must apply the same standards as when examining the Hungarian case. People will now be paying close attention to this in Brussels.
The EU withheld budget funds amounting to 30 billion from Viktor Orbán because Hungary no longer has much to do with a free, democratic constitutional state. Before the summit in Brussels, however, the Commission released ten billion – whether this was really based on objective criteria is now the subject of heated debate. MEPs in particular, who have been fighting against Orbán for years, are angry: the judicial reforms that have been introduced are inadequate, and the Commission apparently only released the money to make a deal with Orbán in favor of Ukraine before the summit.
Praise from Germany can hurt Tusk in Poland
However, it is difficult to conclude from the course of the negotiations that Orbán was actually bought in. He blocked billions in aid to Ukraine, and he only paved the way for accession talks with Ukraine after the 26 other heads of state and government had put pressure on him in a united front. Donald Tusk also made his contribution to this. It is reported that he warned urgently that if the Europeans gave the Ukrainians the cold shoulder, then there would only be one winner: Vladimir Putin.
A real European, an anti-Orbán, was sitting at the table, that’s how most people felt. The German delegation also had nothing but praise for Donald Tusk. But one shouldn’t say it too loudly, they said. Because praise from Germany could still harm Donald Tusk in Poland.