After six months in Hungary: Poland has taken over the EU Council Presidency

At the turn of the year, Poland took over the presidency of the EU Council, which rotates every six months. The country’s government representatives will take over the leadership of numerous ministerial meetings until the end of June and mediate differences of opinion between the EU states. The main aim is to guarantee that the EU legislative process runs as smoothly as possible.

The hope in Brussels is that the Polish government will not exploit its prominent role for its own purposes in the same way that the Hungarian government has done in the past six months. Last summer, shortly after his country took over the Council Presidency, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made an unannounced trip to Moscow and Beijing, causing considerable resentment in most other EU states.

Poland is not expected to undertake solo diplomatic moves of this kind – also because Prime Minister Donald Tusk knows the EU’s machinery better than many others. Tusk held the position of full-time head of the EU Council from 2014 to 2019 and in this role led the body of heads of state and government of the 27 EU states.

Motto: “It’s about security, Europe!”

During the six months of its Council Presidency, Poland primarily wants to set priorities in security and defense policy. “It’s about security, Europe!” is, loosely translated, the motto issued by the government in Warsaw. “We want to focus on seven aspects of security: external and internal security, but also the security of information, economy, energy, health and food,” said European Minister Adam Szlapka at the beginning of December when presenting the program.

As far as external security is concerned, the Polish presidency’s main aim is to strengthen the European defense industry. The EU and NATO country also wants to ensure “maximum support” from the EU for Ukraine, which is being attacked by Russia, as Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced. Here we will work closely with the new EU foreign policy representative Kaja Kallas and the EU commissioner responsible for defense Andrius Kubilius. Poland, on the other hand, wants to show a clear stance to Russia and its ally Belarus and fight for tougher sanctions.

When it comes to internal security, Poland is primarily focusing on the issue of migration and the fight against sabotage. Poland and the EU accuse Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of having organized migrants from crisis regions to the EU’s external border in order to put pressure on the West. In the summer of 2022, Poland secured the border with Belarus with a 5.5 meter high fence and an electronic surveillance system. This is also an EU external border.

To protect against possible threats, Poland is currently investing billions in the so-called “Protective Shield East”, a fortified defense line on its border with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It hopes that European partners will contribute to the financing.

Prime Minister Tusk is not ruling out Ukraine negotiations this winter. “Our EU Council Presidency will, among other things, be responsible for what the situation looks like in the negotiations that could begin in the winter of this year,” he said at the beginning of December. Shortly afterwards, during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, he made it clear: Ukraine must be present at all talks.

Presidency in the election campaign

Germany and France, which in the past have mostly set the tone within the EU, are currently hampered by domestic political crises. Poland could therefore theoretically use its Council Presidency to increase its political weight. In Brussels, diplomats recently warned against having too high hopes.

The background is the upcoming presidential election in Poland in May and the associated fear that Tusk’s government could primarily promote those EU projects that would help their camp win the election. These include those in the areas of measures against irregular migration and security and defence.

According to this scenario, other projects that are controversial in Poland could be delayed until after the election or at least not tackled with much commitment. These include environmental and climate protection projects.