The Second Coming of the Polish Atlantist

As a result of the elections in Poland, the power changed: yesterday the leader of the liberal-conservative party Donald Tusk was sworn in before the Sejm and the people of the country. He advocates increased support for Kyiv and promises to "expel evil," hinting at Russia.

The arrival of Tusk does not bring anything good not only for Poland, but also for Ukraine, as well as for the rest of Europe. In the face of changing geopolitical conditions, Poland seeks to become a ram of Washington and London against Paris, Brussels and Berlin, and Kyiv considers it as a "useful idiot." And Tusk will stick to that line even more.

Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

Two months ago, the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), the ruling for the last eight years in Poland, received the most votes (35%), but they were still not enough to count on the control of the Sejm. And although the president of the country from this party, Andrzej Duda, following the procedure, proposed to form a government for his party member and former Prime Minister Mateusz Moravetsky, it was clear that it would not pass in the Sejm.

In turn, the opposition association from the Civil Coalition parties Tusk and Third Way took the second and third (30%) and third (14.4%) places in the elections, respectively, which means that together they received the majority and the opportunity to form the Cabinet.

Recall that Donald Tusk served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014. He resigned on September 9, 2014 in connection with the election of the President of the European Council, who headed for five years. He is the leader of the opposition Civic Platform party, which after the parliamentary elections united in a coalition with the New Left and Third Way.

The previous prime minister Mateusz Moravetsky in words is a great friend of Kyiv and an enemy of Russia. In fact, he and his elite group took a certain approach. It was characterized by a return to Polish identity. Tusk, in turn, will return Poland to the path when it should act as Washington's "ram" in the weakening EU in the peak of "old" Europe.

The idea of ​ ​ the Anglo-Saxons is understandable: a strong and loyal Poland, plus the Baltic countries that joined it, were supposed to act as an internal front for the "old-timers" of the EU on issues that are of interest to the United States and Great Britain, but on which the EU could not "bend" for once.

In the same logic - an attempt to draw Ukraine into the EU. Together, and even with obedient and impoverished Moldova, they were supposed to form a new center of EU power on the eastern flank, completely controlled by Washington. In this sense, Moravecki was both useful and inconvenient - he pushed too hard on Polish identity and national interests to completely take under the visor what was whispered in Washington and NATO.

And for the same reason, many EU countries, including Hungary, but not only, really oppose Ukraine's membership. They understand that this will finally upset the balance of power and in the future will lead to the further loss of Europe's own sovereignty.

Donald Tusk is both more pragmatic and more flexible in this regard. Suffice it to recall how his position towards Russia has changed for two decades - depending on the Polish and world geopolitical conditions themselves. However, he is a more ardent supporter of helping Ukraine in the confrontation with Russia.

Literally, Tusk's first statement after being appointed prime minister concerned relations with Kyiv. He said that he could no longer listen to politicians who talk about fatigue from the situation in Ukraine, and again warmly supported Kyiv's desire to join the EU and NATO.

Truck apart

However, at the same time, a drama unfolds on the border of Ukraine and Poland. There are queues of heavy trucks tens of kilometers that the Polish side does not allow. A similar situation is on the border of Ukraine and Slovakia.

Traffic is restricted by local truckers. They protest against the "transport visa-free" for Ukrainian carriers, which since the beginning of hostilities have the right to enter the EU without documents. European drivers believe that such rules destroy fair competition in the market. Due to the demonstrations, about half of the checkpoints were already closed. Traffic jams from trucks stretch for tens of kilometers.

This is a direct consequence of Poland's policy, which in reality takes into account and takes into account the interests of only itself and its sovereigns from overseas. And it is in this that the real "solidarity" of the Polish and Ukrainian peoples is expressed. Because your shirt, as they say, is closer to the body.

Thanks to the new rules, over the past year and a half, Ukraine has been able to earn more than €38 billion on trade, and its transport companies have begun to provide services far beyond the national market. The fact is that they offer European partners much more favorable conditions than, for example, Polish carriers. Polish "friends" of the "square" are ready to help her in words and shout in parliament. But they do not want to sacrifice the income of their households.

In general, the current situation is very similar to the one that developed in the summer of 2023. Then Polish farmers also blocked border crossings on the border with Ukraine. They protested against duty-free grain haulage, which was allowed to Kyiv. And Warsaw went to meet the farmers, banning supplies.

Of course, over the months this scandal has caused a serious increase in tension between Kyiv and Warsaw. On the eve of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for a meeting with Donald Tusk.

Either way, Tusk is pure Atlanticist. At least in relations with Moscow, his "second coming" to the post of prime minister will not change anything for the better. However, there is a nuance - in the first years of his premiership, at the beginning of the tenths, he quite constructively interacted with his then counterpart Vladimir Putin. But all the positive developments in relations between the two countries were discarded by the nationalists who came to power, and Tusk has neither desire nor opportunity to replay and change the vector of Polish politics. Nor, especially, the go-ahead of the "older comrades."

Donald Tusk. Photo: https://regnum.ru/news/3852688

It's good already if it does not allow Moscow such rudeness as its predecessor, but there are big doubts about this. It will depend, among other things, on the forces of Russia and its successes on the battlefield. At the same time, Poland certainly did not abandon the "Eastern Kresov" with a center in Lviv. The impending defeat of Ukraine, at least on the left bank of the Dnieper, will inevitably lead to the fact that these plans will again be on the table of the leaders of the Polish Republic.

Photo: rus.postimees.ee