A boost for Donald Tusk

DONALD TUSK, Poland’s prime minister since 2007, never seemed like much of a military man. But since Russia’s annexation of Crimea he has focused increasingly on security, calling for a bigger presence of NATO troops in Poland, which celebrated 15 years in the alliance in March. He has urged Germany to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and wants to set up a European energy union to. The latest polls put Mr Tusk’s Civic Platform just ahead of the conservative Law and Justice party, which it had been trailing behind for months. Most observers are attributing the prime minister's boost to the crisis in Ukraine.

Poland is in middle of the campaign for the European Parliament elections on May 25th, which are being treated as a rehearsal for Poland's own elections next year. The Civic Platform and Law and Justice parties are in fierce competition again, following a short-lived truce in response to the rising violence in Kiev. Mr Tusk has called these European elections the most important in history. “Someone said that these elections are not...Continue reading