“I will be counting on an urgent meeting with the president,” Donald Tusk said yesterday. This morning, a response arrived from the presidential camp. “The president will of course meet—if there is such a will on the part of the prime minister—on matters important to Poland and to security,” said Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
On Tuesday, the last meeting of Donald Tusk’s cabinet this year took place. Ahead of the session, the prime minister boasted that earlier that day he had taken part in “high-level talks on ending the war in Ukraine.” He said the talks included European leaders, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, heads of European institutions, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Notably, however, there was no representative of the U.S. side—despite the fact that the main peace negotiations are currently being conducted with the participation of Donald Trump’s administration.
Tusk sought to argue that “what is very important in this context is full cooperation among all institutions that, in one way or another, are constitutionally responsible for international actions.”
He also said he had received “detailed information from President Karol Nawrocki regarding his participation in a conversation with President Trump and other leaders—after the meeting in Mar–a–Lago.” He added that “we, too, will precisely share information from today’s meeting and our talks with European leaders.”
Tusk then launched an attack on the Trump administration, suggesting that it prefers contacts with President Karol Nawrocki rather than with his government.
“It so happens—everyone knows why—that President Trump’s administration prefers contacts with the president. In Europe, the government is, of course, recognized as the main partner. Let us draw conclusions from this, and we must coordinate our actions very precisely,” Tusk continued. The seemingly enigmatic phrase “everyone knows why” is, in fact, a clear signal to Tusk’s most radical supporters: that the “bad” U.S. president prefers to deal with the “bad” Polish president rather than with the “European” Tusk.
Later, the prime minister spoke of the need to organize a meeting with President Nawrocki. “Let us draw conclusions from this, and we must coordinate our actions very precisely. There is no room here for any resentments or grievances—this is a key issue for Poland’s security. I will be counting on an urgent meeting with the president,” he said.
Szefernaker on a meeting between the president and the prime minister
These remarks by Donald Tusk were addressed this morning on TVN24 by Paweł Szefernaker, Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
“The prime minister, pointing out that there may be peace solutions for Ukraine in January, also indicated that an urgent meeting with the president would therefore be necessary. The president will, of course, meet—if there is such a will on the part of the prime minister—on matters important to Poland and to security. That is clear,” he said.