1. Donald Franciszek Tusk was born on 22 April 1957 and is a Polish politician and historian who has served as the prime minister of Poland since 2023, previously holding the office from 2007 to 2014.
55 Facts About Donald Tusk
1. 2.
Donald Tusk is the longest serving prime minister of the Third Polish Republic.
3.
Donald Tusk first entered the Sejm in 1991 but lost his seat in 1993.
4.
In 1997, Donald Tusk was elected to the Senate and became its deputy marshal.
5.
Donald Tusk stood unsuccessfully for President of Poland in the 2005 election and would suffer defeat in the 2005 Polish parliamentary election.
6.
Donald Tusk was President of the European Council until 2019; although initially remaining in Brussels as leader of the EPP, he later returned to Polish politics in 2021, becoming leader of the Civic Platform again.
7.
Since then, as PM, Donald Tusk has continued aid to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
8.
Donald Tusk was born and raised in Gdansk in Northern Poland.
9.
Donald Tusk has Polish, German and Kashubian origins, self-identifying as Polish, Kashubian and European.
10.
Donald Tusk has described the city of his youth as "a typical frontier town" with "many borders between ethnicities".
11.
Donald Tusk recalled his youth under communism as "so hopeless" due to its monotony, with "no hope for anything to change".
12.
Donald Tusk studied history at the University of Gdansk, graduating in 1980.
13.
Donald Tusk was one of the founders of the Liberal Democratic Congress, which in the 1991 elections won 37 seats in the lower house of parliament.
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Donald Tusk became deputy chairman of the new party, and was elected to the Senate in the next election in 1997.
15.
Donald Tusk wanted to enforce a separation of church and state, favoured rapid European integration and supported a free-market economy.
16.
Donald Tusk resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Marshal of the Sejm Ewa Kopacz.
17.
Later in office, Donald Tusk changed his views on the role of taxation in the functioning of the state and his government never cut any taxes.
18.
On 27 October 2009, Donald Tusk declared that he wanted to ban gambling partially.
19.
Donald Tusk is opposed to legalizing abortion on demand, believing that current Polish legislation on abortion at that time protected human life best.
20.
In June 2022, Donald Tusk changed his stance on abortion, supporting a bill that would legalize abortion up to 12 weeks.
21.
In foreign policy, Donald Tusk sought to improve relations severely damaged during the previous Kaczynski government, particularly with Germany and Russia.
22.
Donald Tusk advocated a more realistic relationship with Moscow, especially in regard to energy policy.
23.
In regard to US plans of hosting missile defense shield bases in the country, Donald Tusk hinted skepticism toward the project, saying that their presence could potentially increase security risks from Russia, and rejected US offers in early July 2008.
24.
Donald Tusk announced that Polish soldiers would not take military action in Libya, although he voiced support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya and pledged to offer logistical support.
25.
Contrary to the condemnation of foreign governments and the leadership of the European Union, Donald Tusk supported Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in his efforts of implementing a new controversial constitution.
26.
In early 2012, Donald Tusk announced his support for committing Poland to signing the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
27.
In continental policy, Donald Tusk strongly supported greater political and economic integration within the European Union, strongly backing the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, standing in stark contrast to President Lech Kaczynski's vehement opposition.
28.
Donald Tusk repeatedly stated his government's intention in bringing Poland into the Eurozone.
29.
Between July and December 2011, Poland under Donald Tusk's government presided over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
30.
In 2009, Donald Tusk proposed changes to the power of the presidency, by abolishing the presidential veto.
31.
Donald Tusk again reiterated his desire for constitutional reform in February 2010, proposing that the presidential veto be overridden by a simple parliamentary majority rather than through a three-fifths vote.
32.
Donald Tusk replied that although the presidential election typically drew the most voters to the polls and remained Poland's most high-profiled race, the presidency had little political power outside of the veto, and preferred to remain as prime minister.
33.
Donald Tusk succeeded Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council on 1 December 2014.
34.
Donald Tusk made attempts to co-ordinate the EU's response to the European migrant crisis, and warned illegal economic migrants not to come to Europe.
35.
Ahead of the UK's EU membership referendum Donald Tusk warned of dire consequences should the UK vote to leave.
36.
On 31 January 2017, Donald Tusk wrote an open letter to 27 EU heads of state or government on the future of the EU before the Malta summit.
37.
On 9 March 2017, Donald Tusk was re-elected for a second term to run until 30 November 2019.
38.
Donald Tusk maintains there will be no winners from Brexit and the two years following the triggering of Article 50 will be a time of damage limitation.
39.
Donald Tusk reprimanded Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for threatening to send millions of Syrian refugees to Europe and denounced the Turkish operation in northern Syria as destabilizing the region, which he demanded to halt.
40.
In July 2021, Donald Tusk returned to Warsaw, actively reengaging in Polish politics as leader of Civic Platform.
41.
In 2023, Donald Tusk organized and led significant anti-government protests in Warsaw.
42.
Stanley Bill, who serves as a professor of Polish Studies at the University of Cambridge, stated that Donald Tusk might have been driven by an additional personal motive, as the state-controlled broadcaster's narrative had been continuously demonizing him during PiS rule.
43.
In February 2024, responding to protests by European farmers, Donald Tusk said he would push for changes to the European Green Deal.
44.
Donald Tusk's administration oversaw the arrests of MPs Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik, both tried for exceeding authority since 2015.
45.
In October 2024, Donald Tusk announced plans to temporarily suspend the right of migrants to seek asylum in Poland, citing abuses in the context of hybrid warfare activity carried out by Belarus and Russia, resulting in the EU border crisis.
46.
In January 2025, Donald Tusk supported proposals to reduce benefits paid by Poland to Ukrainian refugees, limiting eligibilty to those actually living in the country.
47.
On 22 January 2024, Donald Tusk arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on a working visit and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
48.
Donald Tusk stated that all those who chose neutrality in the Russo-Ukrainian War and did not support Ukraine deserved "the darkest place in political hell", calling for the "full mobilization" of the West.
49.
Tusk has supported efforts to strengthen European strength in the face of Russia, proclaiming "there is no reason for the EU to be weaker than Russia" after a string of comments made by then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump saying that he would let Russia do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO countries who do not satisfy spending commitments.
50.
In January 2025, Donald Tusk guaranteed safe passage for senior Israeli officials to travel to an event marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp by Soviet troops, despite an arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court.
51.
Donald Tusk emphasised maintaining strong US-European relations while advocating for increased European defence capabilities.
52.
Donald Tusk ruled out sending Polish troops to Ukraine as part of a post-ceasefire peacekeeping force, diverting from French President Emmanuel Macron's idea.
53.
Donald Tusk highlighted the paradox of "500 million Europeans asking 300 million Americans to defend them from 140 million Russians".
54.
In January 2019, Donald Tusk gave a seven-minute speech only in Romanian at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest at the ceremony that marked the beginning of Romania's EU Council Presidency, receiving loud applause.
55.
On 12 December 2019, Donald Tusk published his memoir Szczerze, reflecting on his memories from the five-year tenure as President of the European Council.