Artur Troost's text is the consequence of the cooperation of Political Criticism with independent Polish and Hungarian editorial offices, in which we look at crucial issues from the position of both countries.
After almost fourteen years, Poland re-chairs the meetings of the Council of the European Union and represents it in relations with another institutions. According to EU treaties, the word of office will last six months – Denmark will take over in July. Donald Tusk's government so has comparatively small time to mark EU policy.
The Presidency is simply a very symbolic role, and it is not possible to push its initiatives without the consent of the European Council. However, it is inactive a period during which the voice of Poland will be better heard than usual, giving any speech to intra-EU discussions.
Break up with Hungarian predecessors
Since July 2024 Hungary held the EU PresidencyViktor Orbán has been indivisible for respective years. The Prime Minister is not very well-liked in Brussels, and he is regularly accused of authoritarian pro-Russianities, pro-Russianity and community damage, so the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union did not inspire the enthusiasm of European leaders. Orbán himself has done nothing to obscure the negative impression and remove the concerns of his Euroscepticism and to search friends outside the EU.
Even the Hungarian Presidency's motto already – Make Europe large Again – it clearly referred to Donald Trump, highlighting Orbán's view of abroad policy. It was inactive worse – the Prime Minister of Hungary, representing the EU, visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow, declared his desire to end the conflict in Ukraine, and then continued the "peace mission" in China, where he besides discussed European affairs. Unobvious direction in the context of the war in east Europe, but Good relations with Beijing are presently crucial for the Hungarian authoritieswhat the gathering with Xi Jinping added.
Orbán's diplomatic initiatives met with a consistent condemnation of another European countries – any threatened to boycott the European Council meetings as long as Hungary led them. In the end, this did not happen, but the taste remained, and there was no uncertainty that many in Brussels counted time until the end of the Hungarian Presidency. Donald Tusk's government announces a major change, with a policy that puts EU interests first and, at the same time, faithful commitments to Ukraine. However, breaking up with another elements of the Hungarian agenda is no longer so certain.
But are you sure?
There are areas where Donald Tusk's government agrees with Orbán and his allies. erstwhile Hungary included the Presidency, its primary intention was to improve the EU's "security" by combating immigration, strengthening the tightness of the EU's external borders and more thorough control of visitors. This is precisely what Poland is saying, making the subject number 1 for its word at the head of the EU Council a widely understood security.
It may not sound besides dangerous, at least until we look at the applicable implementation of specified declarations. In Poland they translated not only into investments in defence or infrastructure, but besides into the usage of push-backs, widespread breaking the law at the border and contrary to the ideas of humanitarianism and global conventions, plans to limit asylum. The government of the “coalition on 15 October” continues the policy of the PiS in this respect, surpassing it to scare migrants.
On the occasion of the fresh tragedy in Magdeburg, Prime Minister Tusk, alternatively of pointing to the extremist right-wing sympathy of the bomber (a supporter, among others. AfD), utilized the situation to item its opposition to immigration and velocity up work on strengthening asylum law. On the another hand, Deputy Marshal Piotr Zgorzelski, who belonged to the ruling coalition, called migrants on the border “the cattle”.
It can so be expected that the Hungarian and Polish Presidency will combine the desire to build "Europe fortressIt’s okay. ” Especially since most EU governments are moving in the same direction, pushing humanities aside and trying to fight the far right by taking its views, despite the alternatively The mediocre effects of this strategy.
The Polish Presidency symptomatic of the full Union?
The current priorities of the Polish authorities contrast with the goals set by the Tusk government in 2011, in the margins of the first Polish Presidency in the EU. The fight against illegal immigration was already mentioned at the time, but much more emphasis was placed on the improvement of the Union and the accession processes of countries specified as Croatia, Ukraine, Serbia and Turkey. They were optimistic about the future of the community, wanting to open it to fresh members alternatively than make Europe a fortress.
The common component of both Polish presidencies remains the tiny weight that the Tusk governments have put on climate policy. In 2011 PO defended coal power, and in 2025 the Polish authorities will not hurry to green transformation. The Ministry of Finance expressed scepticism towards the CO2 charging system, while the Ministry of Agriculture announced "simplification" Green Deal, without specifying what that means. There is no request to look for alternate ways of reducing the European economy's emissions or promises of a general acceleration of decarbonisation.
In this respect, too, the policy of the Polish authorities is in line with the EU's tendency to push the climate objectives and the Green Deal forward on the list of EU priorities. The fresh Euro-elections, together with national votes, confirmed that Europe is turning to law, so the issue of green transition has been hidden behind safety slogans, which in practice mean combating immigration. In this respect, the Polish Presidency should well reflect the prevailing attitudes presently among many European parties of the centre-right, and so besides in the EU decision-making circles – from the radicals of Orbán they disagree in external policy, but in the interior they are increasingly speaking with 1 voice.
