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POLAND HAS TAKEN over the European Union presidency from Hungary.
The EU has a six-month rotating presidency and Poland is expected to bring a more conciliatory approach than its predecessor Hungary.
A spokesperson for the Polish presidency said its goal will be to “support dialogue and ensure the smooth conduct of the Council’s work”.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is an experienced politician and was head of the European Council from 2014 to 2019 and also president of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest party in the European Parliament.
Fine Gael is a member of the EPP.
Tusk said the “presidency will be groundbreaking in many ways” and remarked that it “begins during a challenging time marked by conflicts”.
“Our task will be to convince all 27 EU member states that Europe can continue to be the safest, most stable place on Earth,” said Tusk.
“Security will be our top priority during the upcoming six months.”
Tusk added that he will “implement a shared, carefully planned security policy, providing Ukraine with the necessary support”.
“We will do everything to ensure that Europe’s security is a reality, not just an aspiration,” said Tusk.
Under Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, Budapest regularly found itself at loggerheads with Brussels, becoming something of a black sheep.
Its six-month presidency was awaited with dread and later proved to be “quite irritating” to other EU governments, said Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.
Viktor Orban also used the platform to openly pursue his own diplomatic agenda.
He began by travelling to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin as part of an unapproved Ukraine “peace mission” that also saw him visit Kyiv and Beijing.
That sparked fury among fellow EU leaders.
Meanwhile, Poland has been among Ukraine’s loudest backers since the 2022 invasion, while Hungary – as Moscow’s closest EU ally – has resisted support for Kyiv.
“Everyone is looking forward to having a fresh start,” said a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.
When a country assumes the EU presidency, it is meant to put their politics aside to take on a seemingly more neutral role.
Although the EU likens the role of the presidency to “hosting a dinner” among the bloc’s members, the job is not without punch.
The country in charge gets to chair meetings of the European Council, which comprises the governments of the 27 EU states, steer the agenda and steward negotiations.
Hungary managed most EU internal matters in conventional fashion. But it stalled the bloc’s action on foreign policy, including loans and military assistance for Ukraine.
Since it joined the EU in 2004, Poland’s economy has almost tripled in size, according to the Danish Institute for International Studies.
It currently accounts for more than 4% of the EU’s total output.
Only Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands contribute more.
Poland currently tops NATO’s spending ranking relative to the size of its economy, with more than 4% of its GDP devoted to defence.
This will be reflected in the goals it pursues over the next semester.
The bloc’s fifth largest country in terms of population has said it wants to use the presidency to “strengthen its position as one of the most important” EU states.
Its representative to the EU, Agnieszka Bartol, said “security” would be its main focus.
While this includes economic, energy and food security, defence is top of the list.
“We cannot ignore the international situation,” Bartol said.
“We are in times of extreme challenges. There is a war just next to us”.
Warsaw says ramping up support for Ukraine, enhancing sanctions against Russia and boosting Europe’s defence industry are among its priorities.
That’s “not going to be an easy task” however, cautioned the diplomatic source.
He noted that the EU’s security and foreign policy decisions require unanimity, and Hungary and Slovakia were not likely to concur.
Others expressed concerns that Poland’s presidential election, scheduled for May, might see domestic politics muddy Warsaw’s neutrality on the EU stage.
“They will always position themselves in light of the presidential election,” said a senior diplomat.
But “that’s part of the game”, said the first diplomatic source.
Apart from security, no major decisions are expected over the next six months.
A new European Commission – which plays a central role in preparing EU legislation – has only just been appointed.
With additional reporting from © AFP 2024
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