By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) – Poland’s opposition leader Donald Tusk, who is on track to become prime minister again after his coalition’s recent victory in parliamentary elections, said Wednesday that his country "can count on very far-reaching flexibility from European institutions" on the question of unlocking frozen EU cash designated for his country from the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery funds.
“Poles have been waiting for this moment for eight long years,” Tusk, the leader of the Civic Coalition (KO), which is likely to head a coalition government after elections on Oct. 15, said after a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.
The European Union is withholding €35.4 billion ($37 billion) in recovery funds and demands reform of judicial independence before releasing the money. It is also withholding billions of euros in cohesion funds from the EU budget until the judiciary issue is resolved.
“I am at the headquarters of the European Commission to accelerate the process of returning Poland to full presence in the EU. We are returning to this path knowing that this is the will of Polish voters. I'm still here as leader of the opposition, but time flies. I had to take this initiative,” said Tusk.
“My mission is to rebuild my country's position in Europe and strengthen the EU as a whole,” he said.
“There are, of course, the so-called milestones and the new government will have to quickly demonstrate that it is capable of restoring the rule of law in Poland, both through legislation and everyday practice,” he added.
Tusk added that the EU had also offered “full cooperation on Ukrainian issues…I can also count, which was important to me, on help in strengthening our eastern border, especially with Belarus. I am talking about the practical and financial consequences of this cooperation.”
Von der Leyen spoke about Poland’s return to the EU fold.
“The record turnout in the elections that took place on Oct. 15 in Poland showed once again that Poles are strongly attached to democracy,” she said.
“Poles are proud Europeans. They have demonstrated enormous solidarity and taken responsibility in many dimensions. We will also talk about the future of the European security architecture...economic modernization and future competitiveness.”
Tusk also spoke about recent consultations with Polish President Andrzej Duda on forming a government.
“After yesterday's meeting with Duda, I have reasons for moderate optimism that the president will not be interested in excessively prolonging this process unless some surprise happens. But we have lived too long to rule out any surprises,” he said.
The outgoing government was skeptical.
“Donald Tusk promised that the day after the elections he would get money from the National Reconstruction Plan. We'll see what he comes back with in a few days,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Wednesday in Warsaw.