As of: February 12, 2024, 11:10 a.m
By: Marc Beyer
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Split
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
© Omar Havana/AP/dpa
Donald Tusk arrives late in Paris and Berlin.
Poland's first attempts at rapprochement are intended to strengthen relations again.
Berlin – Donald Tusk took his time for a visitor whose arrival was so eagerly awaited.
Almost exactly two months to the day after being sworn in, Poland's Prime Minister is traveling to his two most important partners in the EU today.
He is initially expected in Paris, followed by an appointment in Berlin in the afternoon.
When Tusk took office in mid-December, Olaf Scholz still hoped to be able to receive the head of government “in the coming weeks”.
That was too optimistic.
So far, the many domestic political construction sites, from the reorganization of the personnel in the public media to the reconstruction of the rule of law, have taken almost all of Tusk's attention.
Tusk wants to improve Poland's relations with Germany and France
He only introduced himself in person in Brussels and Kiev.
Unlike his national conservative predecessor Mateusz Morawiecki and the eternal puppet master Jaroslaw Kaczynski from the PiS party, who felt close to Donald Trump but alienated many other partners, the liberal prime minister is a friend of the West.
Tusk, who was President of the EU Council for five years, wants to quickly repair Poland's badly damaged relationships, especially with France and Germany.
But he can't act too boldly, because his political opponents at home are just waiting for an opportunity to accuse him of excessive closeness to his big neighbor.
The fact that Kaczynski called Tusk a “German agent” after his appointment as prime minister was as misplaced as expected.
Playing with anti-German sentiments, including calls for reparations, is part of the PiS's standard repertoire.
Poland's Prime Minister Tusk as “hostage to PiS rhetoric”
He compared Tusk's efforts to reintroduce constitutional principles and remove Kaczynski's partisans from the levers of power as quickly as possible with the methods of Adolf Hitler.
With such attacks, the PiS has poisoned the political debate in Poland to such an extent that Tusk must always expect to be accused of subservience to Berlin when he approaches again.
The vice president of the German Poland Institute, Agnieszka Lada-Konefal, recently called Tusk “a kind of hostage to the PiS rhetoric” at Deutsche Welle.
There is no relaxation in sight.
Tusk spent his first two months in office primarily trying to curb the PiS's influence on national institutions, which had grown rampant for eight years.
Immediately after being sworn in, he not only fired the entire management of the public media, which he accused of spreading party propaganda.
Tusk shows edge: “Poland’s border will be closed”
He also reorganized the staff of the domestic and foreign intelligence services as well as the anti-corruption agency.
Tusk's government alliance also attests to them having discredited political opponents on behalf of the PiS.
Despite all the closeness that is now possible again between Warsaw and Berlin, the relationship will not be free of controversy.
When it comes to migration, for example, Donald Tusk wants to appear self-confident.
Although he emphasizes how essential humane treatment of refugees is, he says: “Poland’s border will be closed.”
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He also contradicts Germany's desire to abolish the principle of unanimity in EU decisions: "No maneuvers, no games." The anticipation for today's meeting is still great, on both sides.
Tusk knows the value of a stable relationship with Berlin.
He can therefore even gain something positive from Kaczynski's never-ending attacks.
There could be no better proof that “it was worth driving out evil.”
(Marc Beyer)