Mediaboss Marketing

Warsaw: The son of a carpenter, Donald Tusk came of political age in the cauldron of Poland's "Solidarity" movement, which presaged the fall of communism a quarter of a century ago. His appointment as president of the European Council, a long way from the shipyards of his native Gdansk on the Baltic Sea, heralds the rise of Poland to the top table of European policymaking, though critics have questioned his suitability to manage the multilingual art of the classic Brussels compromise.

Tusk becomes a symbol of the country's transformation, and of the shifting balance of power in Europe. He himself spoke of the bloc harnessing the energy of "this ambitious and energetic region", with its experience of dealing with Moscow.

"This would change Poland's international standing spectacularly," Pawel Swieboda, head of the Polish DemosEurope think-tank, said shortly before Tusk's widely anticipated confirmation.

"To be honest, with the exception of John Paul II, no Polish man has ever assumed such high office."

Tusk, 57, is a history graduate and avid soccer fan who has been prime minister since 2007. On Dec. 1, he will take on the job of steering policy meetings of EU leaders, addressing crises from the war in Ukraine to the woes of euro zone economies and issues of immigration, intolerance and inequality affecting the EU's 500 million citizens.

Responding to questions about his lack of French and limited English and how that would affect his ability to follow the polyglot Belgian Van Rompuy in brokering compromise in Europe, he promised to polish up his English by December. "Don't worry," he quipped in response to a question from a British newspaper.

He does, notably, speak good German.

Van Rompuy, for his part, praised Tusk as one of the continent's longest-serving elected leaders and a man who had won the respect of his peers around the EU negotiating table.

STUDENT AGITATORSupporters say Tusk brings with him a reputation as a skilled mediator between the competing political camps and personalities within his conservative Civic Platform party, a talent that may stand him in good stead as he tries to marshal consensus among the 28 leaders of the EU member states.

Some critics also point to his strong consolidation of power within his party and recent hard line on Russia as bad omens.

Follow this link:
Carpenter's Son Takes Poland to Europe's Top Table