BRUSSELS (AP) — Donald Tusk, the opposition candidate who may become Poland’s next prime minister, sought to repair Warsaw’s ties with the European Union during a series of meetings in Brussels that also centered on unlocking billions of euros in funds that were frozen due to democratic backsliding under the outgoing nationalist government.
Depending on whom President Andrzej Duda first asks to try to form a government, the prime minister might not get sworn in until December.
Tusk, who served almost seven years as Poland’s head of government, made clear that he was in Brussels as leader of the opposition and not as prime minister.
“I had to take the initiative before the final post-election settlements, because it is necessary to use all methods, even non-standard ones, to save the money that Poland deserves,” Tusk told reporters.
The opposition groups allied with Tusk campaigned on promises to restore democratic standards and ties with the EU that worsened during the eight years Law and Justice governed as the party imposed control over courts and other judicial bodies in a way the EU said violated the democratic separation of powers.
The opposition groups together won over 54% of the votes and would have a comfortable majority of 248 seats in the 460-seat Sejm, the lower house of parliament.
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