The bid by Poland's de facto leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, to derail Donald Tusk's reelection as European Council President has ended in a humiliating defeat. We can now expect the Polish government to lash out at the EU, heedless of the geopolitical or economic consequences.
WARSAW – Until his recent bungled attempt to block Donald Tusk’s reelection as European Council President, Poland’s de facto leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, may have appeared to many European Union leaders to be a politician in the vein of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or some Western populist. But that is far from the case. And now Europe has gotten a taste of Polish political culture, which has long revolved around attempting to restrain a madman. This is what Aleksander Kwaśniewski did as president, and it is what occupied Tusk when he was prime minister. Now this task falls to the Polish opposition – and to Europe.
WARSAW – Until his recent bungled attempt to block Donald Tusk’s reelection as European Council President, Poland’s de facto leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, may have appeared to many European Union leaders to be a politician in the vein of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or some Western populist. But that is far from the case. And now Europe has gotten a taste of Polish political culture, which has long revolved around attempting to restrain a madman. This is what Aleksander Kwaśniewski did as president, and it is what occupied Tusk when he was prime minister. Now this task falls to the Polish opposition – and to Europe.