European Union leaders confirmed Donald Tusk for a second term as council president on Thursday, overcoming weeks of strong opposition from his native Poland, which immediately retorted by seeking to hold up proceedings at their joint summit.
Poland refused to approve some summit texts, raising unease at a time when the E.U. is looking for unity as the crisis-prone bloc is faced with the painful departure of Britain.
“I will do my best to make EU better,” Tusk said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta, which holds the E.U. rotating presidency, said Poland decided that “politically irrespective of the contents of the conclusions, to veto, or at least not agree with any of the conclusions.”
Poland had argued that the decision should be delayed because of its displeasure with Mr. Tusk, a bitter political rival. But Warsaw’s government was totally isolated at the vote, a meeting participant said. The participant did not want to be identified because the summit was conducted privately.
It left Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party bitter. Party spokeswoman Beata Mazurek said that “this will influence the way that the union will function in the future. It will no longer be a union of unity.”
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said it was unheard of to confirm a president without the consent of his home nation and hinted that the most important east European nation in the E.U. could run an opposition course in a bloc where much is decided by common consent.
“Nothing without us, without our consent,” she said upon arrival for the summit. “This is a matter of principles.”
That stance had no effect on the outcome of the president’s election. Other leaders won out, insisting there was no reason for a delay.
“I don’t see how one country could oppose this solution when all the others are in favor,” said French President Francois Hollande, echoing comment from many of the bloc’s 28 leaders.
The job is one of the bloc’s most prestigious. It involves chairing summits, coordinating the work of the member countries and making sure the 28 nations speak as much as possible with one voice on the international stage.
The E.U. is facing a plethora of challenges, not least the imminent divorce proceedings as Britain leaves the bloc, and does not want to be caught in an institutional quagmire over the position of a leader.
Poland’s nationalist government had proposed little-known Polish E.U. lawmaker Jacek Saryusz-Wolski to replace Mr. Tusk, whose current term ends May 31.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said it was unheard of to confirm a president without the consent of his home nation.
“Nothing without us, without our consent,” she said upon arrival for the summit. “This is a matter of principles.”
Mr. Tusk is a former prime minister who has a long and bitter rivalry with the leader of Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The government argues that Mr. Tusk supports the domestic opposition in Poland and has failed to protect the country’s interests in the E.U..
German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Mr. Tusk public support in a pre-summit speech to lawmakers in Berlin. “I see his re-election as a sign of stability for the entire European Union and I look forward to continuing working with him,” Ms. Merkel said.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who chaired the election, acknowledged that several member nations are unhappy that all major E.U. posts are held by members of the center-right European People’s Party. But he said “they don’t want to sacrifice President Mr. Tusk because of that, because they think he has done a good job.”
Apart from Mr. Tusk, EPP politicians Jean-Claude Juncker and Antonio Tajani head the E.U.’s executive Commission and the European Parliament, respectively. Mr. Muscat said a more equitable spreading of posts would need to be addressed some time over the coming months.
