At a media briefing ahead of his talks with von der Leyen, Tusk said his trip to Brussels had been designed “to speed up the process of Poland’s return to a full presence in the EU,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He added: “I am here as the leader of the opposition, not as the prime minister, but time is passing. I had to take this initiative before final decisions were made, because all methods, including non-standard ones, had to be used to save the money that Poland deserves."
Tusk is likely to become Poland's next prime minister after a group of pro-European Union parties secured a majority in the parliamentary election held on October 15, the Reuters news agency reported.
At stake in Poland’s talks with the EU is EUR 35.4 billion in grants and loans from the EU’s recovery fund, which has been suspended over rule-of-law concerns under Warsaw’s outgoing conservative government, news outlets reported.
Brussels has demanded that Poland restores the independence of its judiciary system, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the EU’s von der Leyen said ahead of the meeting with Tusk on Wednesday: “The record turnout in the elections showed again how strongly attached Poles are to democracy.”
She added that she and Tusk would “discuss important issues in which the voice of Poland is crucial.”
The European Commission president mentioned the war in Ukraine, the future of the European security architecture and competitiveness, among other issues.
Afterwards, Tusk told reporters that the EU was ready to adopt “a flexible approach” when it came to unblocking recovery funds for Poland in exchange for the restoration of the rule of law, as well as helping Poland support Ukrainian refugees and strengthen the border with Belarus, the PAP news agency reported.
Later in the day, Tusk was expected to meet with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and with the leaders of European centre-right parties, according to news outlets.
Meanwhile, Polish President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday met with politicians from opposition groups including the Third Way alliance to discuss the formation of Poland’s new government, the PAP news agency reported.
On Tuesday, the president held talks in Warsaw with the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and with Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition bloc.
Duda, an ally of the outgoing Law and Justice government, has previously said he would give the first shot at assembling a new coalition to the largest single party in the parliament, the Reuters news agency reported.
The Law and Justice party won the October 15 election but is unlikely to find a partner with enough seats to form a coalition government, according to Reuters.
The leaders of the three groups intent on forming the next government - Tusk's liberal Civic Coalition (KO), the centre-right Third Way and the New Left - have all ruled out working with PiS and have urged Duda not to delay in giving Tusk the job of forming a government, Reuters reported.
After Wednesday’s talks with the president, Third Way co-leader Szymon Hołownia told reporters that the president “has not yet decided” on who to task with forming a new government, the PAP news agency reported.
“We are optimistic that there will be no obstruction from the president," Hołownia said.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.