According to German press reports, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to “take Germany’s place as the leading force in European defense policy.”
Warsaw correspondent for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Viktoria Grossmann, writes that Poland has a “key role” in European security policy and Tusk has announced talks with other European leaders in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory, playing a lead role in a potential response to Trump’s efforts to broker peace in Ukraine. After the U.S. election results, Tusk, in her opinion, attempted to establish closer cooperation with allies on the continent.
“It seems that Tusk would like to take Germany’s place as the leading force in European defense policy, because the government in Berlin is not fulfilling this role,” writes Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Tusk is thereby indicating the direction of the Polish presidency of the EU, which begins in 2025, but he is also trying to improve his standing at home as well, as presidential elections will be held in Poland in just a few months, which the KO candidate must win in order to gain complete control of the government.
According to the journalist, the whole situation shows the weakness of Europe, because “whoever is constantly entangled in conflicts in internal politics has a problem in reaching an agreement (with others) in foreign policy.”
The collapse of the German government coalition
When Scholz’s coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP fell apart on Wednesday evening, Nov. 6, following the dismissal of Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), the chancellor said that a vote of confidence would be held in the Bundestag on Jan. 15. This would mean that new elections would be held in mid-March. However, the opposition Christian Democrats CDU/CSU want to speed up the process and are demanding that the vote of confidence be held as early as Wednesday, Nov. 13. According to CDU leader Friedrich Merz, the elections could then be held on Jan. 19.
Olaf Scholz declared that “if everyone agrees,” he would have no objection to calling a vote of confidence before Christmas. The chancellor said Germany needed a new, democratic government quickly and that citizens should “set the course.”
“In my opinion, things should now proceed quickly – if possible with the consent of the democratic parties,” Scholz commented.
The question now is whether Tusk can fill the vacuum left by a German government in shambles.
