10 March 2017•Update: 11 March 2017
BRUSSELS
Poland’s efforts to block the concluding report of the European Council failed on Friday after Warsaw had earlier attempted to prevent the re-election of Donald Tusk as council president.
Prime Minister Beata Szydlo refused to sign the declaration at the end of the two-day summit after Poland was outvoted by the council’s 27 other members to return Tusk, a former Polish premier, as council president for another two-and-a-half years.
However, the conclusions were published with a note that the document “did not gather consensus, for reasons unrelated to its substance”.
It is highly unusual for a country to reject the summit communique, which covers topics such as migration and defense.
Poland’s opposition to Tusk’s reappointment stemmed from his opposition to the ruling Law and Justice party.
Szydlo complained about the lack of consensus. “Why don't we respect each other, listen to each other?” she said. “That’s today the largest problem of the EU.”
In a series of tweets from her office, Szydlo added: “Donald Tusk doesn’t guarantee impartiality. He acted against the Polish government”.
Tusk, whose current position will end on May 31, led the Civic Platform government from 2007 to 2014 before the election of Law and Justice in October 2015.
He has been president of the council, which consists of heads of state and government and guides EU policy, since December 2014.
Reporting by Hasan Esen and Ata Ufuk Seker:Writing by Esra Kaymak
