Current:Home > FinancePoland’s Tusk visits Brussels, seeking initiative in repairing ties with EU and unlocking funds-LoTradeCoin
Poland’s Tusk visits Brussels, seeking initiative in repairing ties with EU and unlocking funds
View Date:2024-12-24 00:39:53
BRUSSELS (AP) — Donald Tusk, the opposition candidate who may become Poland’s next prime minister, sought to repair Warsaw’s ties with the European Union during a series of meetings in Brussels that also centered on unlocking billions of euros in funds that were frozen due to democratic backsliding under the outgoing nationalist government.
Tusk arrived in Brussels a day after he and other leaders of an opposition bloc that collectively won the most votes in Poland’s Oct. 15 parliamentary election announced that they were prepared to govern together with Tusk as prime minister.
“The goal today is to rebuild my country’s position in Europe, to strengthen the European Union as a whole. The results of the elections in Poland and the incredible turnout, including among the youngest voters in Poland, made it clear to all of Europe, I think, that democracy, the rule of law, freedom of expression, European unity are still important to our people,” Tusk said.
Depending on whom President Andrzej Duda first asks to try to form a government, the prime minister might not get sworn in until December. Tusk, who served almost seven years as Poland’s head of government, made clear that he was in Brussels as leader of the opposition and not as prime minister.
He described a meeting Wednesday morning with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as informal.
“I had to take the initiative before the final post-election settlements, because it is necessary to use all methods, even non-standard ones, to save the money that Poland deserves,” Tusk told reporters.
The aim, he said, was to accelerate the process of restoring Poland’s full presence in the 27-nation bloc.
“We are returning to this path with full conviction that this is the will of Polish voters,” he said.
Law and Justice, the nationalist conservative government that has ruled Poland for eight years, won more votes than any other single party in the election but it lost its majority and will not hold enough seats to govern the country. The party has said it considers itself the winner of the election and should be given the first chance to try to form a government.
If Duda gives Law and Justice the first chance to build a government, as many expect, it could delay the swearing in of a Tusk-led government by weeks.
The opposition groups allied with Tusk campaigned on promises to restore democratic standards and ties with the EU that worsened during the eight years Law and Justice governed as the party imposed control over courts and other judicial bodies in a way the EU said violated the democratic separation of powers.
The opposition groups together won over 54% of the votes and would have a comfortable majority of 248 seats in the 460-seat Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
Election turnout was over 74%, a record high in post-communist Poland, with high participation by youth and women.
veryGood! (316)
Related
- Dwayne Johnson Admits to Peeing in Bottles on Set After Behavior Controversy
- Seeking the Northern Lights was a family affair for this AP photographer
- What we’ve learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
- NBA Teammate of the Year Mike Conley explains what it means to be a good teammate
- Taylor Swift Politely Corrects Security’s Etiquette at Travis Kelce’s Chiefs Game
- Man charged with punching actor Steve Buscemi is held on $50,000 bond
- Power expected to be restored to most affected by deadly Houston storm
- Climate activists glue themselves at Germany airport to protest pollution caused by flying
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a new encampment at Drexel University
Ranking
- College Football Playoff ranking release: Army, Georgia lead winners and losers
- Storms damage homes in Oklahoma and Kansas. But in Houston, most power is restored
- Gabby Douglas out of US Classic after one event. What happened and where she stands for nationals
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs apologizes for assaulting Cassie Ventura in 2016 video: 'I'm disgusted'
- South Carolina lab recaptures 5 more escaped monkeys but 13 are still loose
- Caitlin Clark back in action: How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun on Monday
- Los Angeles police officer injured when she’s ejected from patrol vehicle after it’s stolen
- Did you know Paul Skenes was an Air Force cadet? MLB phenom highlights academies' inconsistent policy
Recommendation
-
After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
-
2024 PGA Championship Round 3: Morikawa, Schauffele lead crowded leaderboard for final day
-
D. Wayne Lukas isn't going anywhere. At 88, trainer just won his 15th Triple Crown race.
-
Preakness 2024 recap: Seize the Grey wins, denies Mystik Dan shot at Triple Crown
-
Over 1.4 million Honda, Acura vehicles subject of US probe over potential engine failure
-
UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva books boxing match with Chael Sonnen on June 15 in Brazil
-
The Midwest Could Be in for Another Smoke-Filled Summer. Here’s How States Are Preparing
-
Many remember solid economy under Trump, but his record also full of tax cut hype, debt and disease