Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (L) European Council President Herman van Rompuy (C) and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini (R) after they were elected to the EU top jobs during European leaders extraordinary summit at EU council headquaters in Brussels: photo - EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
"The European Council has elected PM Donald Tusk as the next President of the European Council & Euro Summits,” outgoing council president Herman Van Rompuy tweeted on Saturday evening.
Tusk emphasised balancing fiscal discipline with economic growth and addressing the UK's demand for reforms as his top priorities at a press conference following the announcement.
"No reasonable person can imagine the EU without the UK," he said.
It was also announced at the summit in Brussels that Italian foreign minister Federica Mogherini is to take over from Catherine Ashton as EU foreign policy chief.
The 57 year-old centre-right leader of the ruling Civic Platform has led the coalition in Warsaw since 2007 and has been a 'hawk' on Russia since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, calling for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
(L-R) Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, French President Francois Hollande and President of Romania Traian Basescu during a family picture session at a Special Meeting of the European Council at EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 30 August: photo - EPA/JULIEN WARNAND
Tusk is the first politician from the 'new member states' that entered the bloc in 2004 from the central and eastern European region.
UK PM David Cameron gave his support to Tusk's candidature earlier this week and Germany's Angela Merkel is known to be a supporter.
EU leaders picked the new European Council president to succeed Herman Van Rompuy in the role, which includes being EU summit chairman and broker of compromises.
Others in the frame were thought to be centre-right Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Denmark's social democrat leader, Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt.
Thorning Schmidt said on Saturday she was not in the running for the job.
“I am not a candidate, as I have said repeatedly” she told reporters.
Former Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker was chosen as president of the European Commission, another key EU post, two months ago.
Support
Before the decision was announced on Saturday evening, members of the European Parliament from the christian-democrat European People's Party (EPP) – of which Tusk's Civic Platform is a member – said they gave their backing to the Polish prime minister for the role.
“The European People's Party want Donald Tusk to fill the role of council president,” MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski told reporters.
The EPP is the largest voting bloc in the European Parliament but Tusk's candidacy still needs the backing of the social-democrats.
Photo dated 19 May 2014 showing Pope Francis (L) with Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk (R), during a private audience at the Vatican: photo - EPA/CLAUDIO PERI
Earlier, the leader of Poland's largest opposition party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, joked that he would welcome the prime minister and his arch rival becoming European Council president: “The further he is from Poland the better,” he said, but then added, “but seriously, we support Poland. We want Donald Tusk to become President of the European Council as Poland will be a higher position within the European Union,” Kaczynski said during a press conference on Saturday.
Successor
Speculation has been rife in the Polish media as to who will take over from Tusk to lead the Civic Platform-led government.
The favourites mentioned include defence minister Tomasz Siemoniak and to be speaker of the lower house of parliament Ewa Kopacz, with Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz endorsing her Civic Platform colleague.
“I think that Ewa Kopacz would make a good prime minister but let's just keep our fingers crossed,” the mayor said on Saturday morning.
Donald Tusk is the first politician from the CEE members to be elected for a top role in the EU and has shown a tough stance on Russian sactions: photo – PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Civic Platform are currently trailing in opinion polls, after seven years in power, behind Kaczynski's Law and Justice (PiS) and face a general election next year.
When asked who should take over from Tusk as prime minister, former Solidarity leader and president of Poland Lech Walesa hedged his bets, saying: “There are around 37 million [adult] Poles who would make a good PM”. (pg)
source: IAR/PAP/Reuters