Donald Tusk

Biography

Donald Tusk was born in Gdańsk in 1957 and studied history at the University of Gdańsk, graduating in 1980; as a student he was active in the Solidarity student committee that opposed the communist government. After 1989 he co-founded the free-market Liberal Democratic Congress, which merged into the Freedom Union in 1994. He sat in the Sejm from 1991 to 1993, became a deputy marshal of the Senate in 1997 and a deputy marshal of the Sejm in 2001.

In 2001 he co-founded Civic Platform, which he led from 2003. He lost the 2005 presidential election, but Civic Platform won the 2007 parliamentary election and he became prime minister; after a second victory in 2011 he was the first Polish premier re-elected since the fall of communism. His governments slimmed and digitised the public sector and invested heavily in motorways ahead of Euro 2012, but austerity, scandals and a slowing economy later cost him support.

Tusk left in 2014 to become President of the European Council, serving until 2019, and then led the European People's Party until 2022. He returned to Polish politics as Civic Platform leader in 2021. After the 2023 election the Sejm chose him as prime minister for a third time, ending eight years of Law and Justice government, and he has since focused on judicial reform, closer relations with the EU, aid to Ukraine and tougher border controls.