On Wednesday and Thursday, Ulf Kristersson (The Moderate Party) has invited Nordic and Baltic colleagues to Harpsund, the Prime Minister's recreational residence, and Donald Tusk is also among the guests.
Tusk is now touring Europe to secure continued support for Ukraine and to prepare the EU for Donald Trump taking over in the USA on January 20.
Poland has emerged as a significant security policy player in Europe, says Björn Fägersten, senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute, who also leads the analysis company Politea.
"Important weeks"
There are several reasons why Tusk is stepping forward now. In addition to Poland being a neighbor to Ukraine and being heavily affected by the war, Germany and France, which otherwise drive the EU forward, are preoccupied with domestic political crises.
Moreover, Poland is taking over as the EU's presidency on January 1. Tusk's frenetic activity can be seen as informally starting the presidency, in order to gain time.
One realizes that these weeks are very important, says Björn Fägersten.
Partly to try to get as much as possible out of the Biden administration when it comes to support for Ukraine – with money and weapons – and partly to gather the Europeans so that they are reasonably prepared. And that role will not be played by Hungary during its presidency.
Hungary has only one month left as the EU's presidency. There, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was ready to pop the champagne when Trump won.
With Tusk at the helm, the direction will be different.
I think there will be a big difference, that the presidency really drives on and tries to find common positions rather than delaying, says Björn Fägersten.
Negotiated with Trump
At Harpsund, Tusk will meet colleagues who share his view on the importance of continued support for Ukraine. And he has also had or will have meetings with NATO's new Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and France's President Emmanuel Macron.
Add to that that the EU's next foreign minister will be Estonian Kaja Kallas, an outspoken Russia critic and Ukraine friend.
On Donald Tusk's list of merits is also that he already knows what it's like to negotiate with Trump. The last time Trump was elected president, Tusk was the EU Council President.
