Page 30 - bne IntelliNews magazine February 2025

30 I Central Europe bne February 2025
Poland’s presidency under Prime Minister Donald Tusk offers an opportunity to reinforce its status as a major European power while advocating for a stronger and more united EU. / bne IntelliNews
EU presidency passes from Putin- whispering Hungary to hawkish Poland
Wojciech Kosc in Warsaw
It’s a wild swing at the top of the EU as we enter 2025. Poland has just assumed the rotating presidency
of the Council of the European Union (EU). The EU’s rotation system changes presidencies every six months, and this January it marks the beginning of a new trio of presidencies of Poland, Denmark, and Cyprus, working in coordination.
Until the end of June, then, Poland will be at the forefront of shaping the EU’s agenda during a period fraught with political and economic uncertainty.
But unlike the preceding Hungarian presidency, there are hopes that Warsaw will actually address the EU’s pressing challenges, not exacerbate them.
The Hungarian presidency – described by one critic as the EU's "worst ever"
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– was mired in controversy. Hungary became the first country to hold the presidency while under EU sanctions. Its eurosceptic leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, carried on in the vein that had earned him scorn elsewhere
in the bloc, cozying up to the Russian President Vladimir Putin – beginning with a visit to Moscow in July, a diplomatic effort from which other EU leaders hurriedly distanced themselves.
In stark contrast, Poland's pro-European government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, is expected to preside over a largely like-minded bloc, not set itself against it.
Tusk’s victory in Poland’s 2023 elections, following eight years of nationalist
Law and Justice (PiS) rule, marked a
turning point in Warsaw’s relations with Brussels. Tusk, a former EU Council president, has since signalled a determined return to the European mainstream.
Tale of two Donalds
Challenges to the bloc’s security are mounting in Russia but also in China and the US under incoming President Donald Trump, whose first, likely tumultuous months in the White House will coincide with Poland at the helm of the EU’s agenda.
Tusk outlined an ambitious presidency agenda under the motto “Security, Europe!” by which Poland means security considerations related to defence, energy, economy, food, health, and information.