Polish Leader Congratulates Tusk on Reelection as European Council President

Polish President Andrzej Duda has congratulated Donald Tusk with his reelection for the post of European Council President.

WARSAW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Tusk was reelected as the president of the European Council despite Poland's determination to postpone the vote. According to media reports, Poland was the only country that did not support Tusk’s bid and voted against him.

"I hope that in the future, we will be able to rebuild European unity on the basis of the principle of equality of states and peoples’ freedom," Duda wrote in a congratulatory note to Tusk on Thursday, as quoted by the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper.

Tusk replied to the congratulations saying in a statement posted on his official Twitter page that a strong Poland within a unified Europe had always been his goal and that he hoped for good cooperation.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said on Thursday that the reelection of Donald Tusk as the European Council president was unlikely to change Poland’s policy toward the European Union.

According to Waszczykowski, some states had assured Poland that they would support Warsaw’s opposition to the reelection of Tusk, but changed their stance after German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed support for Tusk on Thursday morning.

Tusk, 59, will serve as European Council President for over two more years, until November 2019.