“Today in Europe no leading politician can be openly pro-Russian, but to implement the Kremlin’s plans – he doesn’t have to be. Was Donald Tusk’s true political orientation one of the reasons why Trump did not want to talk to him about ending the Russian-Ukrainian war?” asks Jakub Maciejewski in Gazeta Polska.
People too often believe that if someone officially declares their anti-Russian stance, then surely they are anti-Russian. Nothing could be more wrong – the doctrine of Russian disinformation assumes precisely that its supporters and agents should have the reputation of being skeptical toward the Kremlin, because then they will be more credible. After all, Paweł Rubcow even reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine!
The Russian method
Moscow’s agents would even urge their sympathizers to be more critical – this was the case with Pierre-Charles Pathe (1910-1997), a French journalist who published a geopolitical magazine distributed to parliamentarians. The communists were irritated that Pathe was initially “naively pro-Soviet” – he was not supposed to reveal his sympathies so openly. The task of that opinion-forming Frenchman was therefore to drive a wedge between Paris and Washington, to aggravate relations, to create discord in NATO. Pathe’s figure is a model that helps us understand what effective pro-Russian activity looks like – by criticizing the East, one can strengthen the East. All it took were attacks on the USA and creating a supposed alternative. Why supposed? In Moscow they quite rightly believe that the Kremlin can handle Europe alone through antagonizing states, intimidation, corruption. Today’s propaganda in Russia depicts the Old Continent just as Tsar Nicholas I mocked it – as a “ridiculous peninsula”. To truly understand this, it is worth rotating the map of Eurasia 90 degrees clockwise and seeing that the lands from the Oder to Portugal look, compared to the immensity of Russia, like Denmark’s peninsula next to Germany – miserably small.
Stirring conflict with the “main enemy”
One must also know the second imperative of the Russian services – the sowing of discord among opponents (the West) must revolve around the so-called main enemy. Until 1945 it was Great Britain, and since the end of World War II it has been, without interruption, the United States. Moscow therefore looked kindly (and with an open wallet) upon leftist, anti-imperialist, pacifist movements, and since the late 1980s also ecological or even nationalist ones, because they could be used to agitate Europeans against the USA. Today all anti-American resentments converge perfectly in hatred of Donald Trump, who is the archetype of a true Yankee. A man of success, a millionaire, self-confident, disregarding political correctness, a Christian, a patriot, proud of his community and looking at the rest of the world with the superiority of a Westerner. It is therefore easy, under the pretext of dislike for Trump, to smuggle in anti-Americanism and weaken transatlantic ties. In Donald Tusk’s case this smuggling is rather clumsy, unambiguous, and what’s more – praised in German public debate.
Tusk the model student doesn’t trust America
After Trump’s election victory in the USA, the Polish prime minister seems to be the model student when it comes to sowing discord with our American ally. The Germans expressed such hope already in January 2025. “Donald Tusk may ultimately be the European who handles Donald Trump best” – wrote Der Spiegel. The newspaper described the world exactly as Pathe did in the 1960s. The Germans argued that to the east we have an “imperial aggressor” and to the west an “imperial populist”. Those were precisely the instructions Pathe received – he could write about the victims of Russian gulags, but alongside he was to mention poor conditions in the American prison system or strike with descriptions of New York slums. In Der Spiegel, Sigmar Gabriel, former head of the German MFA (Minister of Foreign Affairs), argued that “we must be more independent in defense policy. But this must happen in a European context.” Such headlines were suggested by the Soviets so that Europeans would rid themselves of American troops after World War II. Mainstream circles in Europe now see Tusk as the executor of this task. In the bulletin of the EU group Renew Europe (RE), Tusk is presented as the leader who will guide the entire continent – but towards what? Toward independence from… America. The Polish prime minister is praised for calling on Europe for “greater self-confidence” and for assertiveness toward Trump: “Speaking in the European Parliament, Tusk passionately defended a liberal, democratic Europe against Trump’s anti-Europeanism, Russian aggression and Chinese expansion.” Again the same maneuver – equating communist Beijing, neo-Nazi Moscow with the conservative president of the USA. So when in February Tusk appealed to European leaders to prepare independent (that is, without American support) security plans, the leader of Law and Justice (PiS) reacted unequivocally.
“Tusk signals that he prefers to be the leader of an anti-American European rebellion. This creates a dangerous situation for Poland, since the alliance with the USA is a fundamental element of our security. In fact, it also weakens Ukraine’s position at an extremely difficult moment for her,” wrote Jarosław Kaczyński on social media. And here one must notice the double bottom of Tusk’s strategy – this concern for Europe’s independence is as arrogant as the meetings of French marshals before World War I or the conferences of British diplomats before World War II. Each time this “independent Europe” drowned in blood and begged America for intervention. Were those lessons truly not enough?
Sent to sow discord
The role that Brussels elites foresee for Tusk is exceptionally perfidious – Poland, as the most pro-American and anti-Russian country, with a strong army and direct threat from Russia, would through its prime minister’s actions become the perfect example of European and Russian ambitions: alienating the Americans and betting on European defense plans which do not even exist on paper. Will the numbers in the heads of German generals defend us against Putin’s fanatical infantry?
February 2025 – the prime minister in a major news channel said that “Donald Trump is a much more difficult partner than any previous president of the United States.” According to the head of the Polish government, Trump is more unpredictable toward allies than toward adversaries. What kind of leader deprives himself of the goodwill of the strongest partner? Of course, we know that Tusk once called Trump a Russian agent, but he was convinced then that Biden or Harris would win the elections. We remember how, during his term in Brussels, Tusk pointed a two-finger gun at the back of the US president – but then he was not Polish prime minister. Thanks to the research of Prof. Cenckiewicz and editor Rachoń, we also know that Tusk allowed Polish services to become dependent on the FSB, but that was over a decade ago. The leader of Civic Coalition (KO) could now play a different role, and yet he continues to pursue anti-Americanism and the vision of a “ridiculous peninsula” that will independently resist Russia and authoritarianisms within Europe.
Deterring personnel
But it’s not only words that testify to this. Although the December 13 coalition has ruled for over 20 months, Poland still does not have an ambassador in Washington. What’s more, during the August Polish-American consultations, the head of the mission Bogdan Klich was on holiday in Greece, demonstratively posting photos of himself swimming in a pool or strolling on the beach. Do you think the Americans don’t notice? Recently promoted to deputy prime minister, Radek Sikorski is now the head of the MFA, known not only for an anti-American provocation (imputing to Americans the sabotage of Nord Stream), but also as the husband of anti-Trump Anglo-American publicist Anne Applebaum – who recently stated that “Trump admires Putin.” If we see this unambiguous stance of the Polish government, then it is no wonder that they also see it in the White House – where no one wants to talk to Tusk.