“This was a tremendous opportunity. An opportunity to showcase our role, our potential. But this opportunity was spectacularly wasted—by this government…” said Mateusz Morawiecki, former Prime Minister of Poland, in a video posted on social media. He also listed what Donald Tusk’s cabinet could have achieved during the past six months.
Poland held the rotating presidency of the EU Council from January 1st of this year. On Tuesday, July 1st, Denmark will take over the presidency, followed by Cyprus at the beginning of 2026.
However, for Poland, it was a lost six months. No major summits took place in the country—neither gatherings of European leaders nor events aimed at strengthening ties, for example, with the United States.
Mateusz Morawiecki, former Prime Minister of Poland, summed up this period in a few sentences.
Morawiecki: “All it took was the will“
“Today marks the end of Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. And you know what? Not a single summit was held in Warsaw, not a single major event that would have shown Poland as a true leader in Europe,” he said in the video published on social media.
He added: “This was a huge opportunity.”
“An opportunity to demonstrate our role, our potential. But that opportunity was completely squandered—by this government. All that will remain from our presidency are donuts and postage stamps. Literally. Gadgets instead of strategy. Mere symbolism instead of real, meaningful leadership,” said the head of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.
During the Polish presidency, the Mercosur agreement was practically finalized, ETS 2 was introduced, along with other taxes that, according to Morawiecki, will ruin the Polish state budget and household finances—hitting Polish entrepreneurs the hardest. “Why? Because in three weeks, Ursula von der Leyen will step up to a press conference and announce that the climate target needs to be raised to 90%. Polish companies know exactly what that means for them,” warned the PiS politician.
Morawiecki also outlined what Donald Tusk’s government should have focused on during Poland’s presidency of the EU Council.
“They could have brought all of Europe’s leaders to Poland—to Warsaw or another beautiful Polish city. They could have organized a European Union–United States summit. They could have hosted a Three Seas Initiative summit under the auspices of the EU Council,” he explained, concluding: “They could have—if only they had wanted to.”