Donald Tusk: We have to be ready for war – I don’t want to scare anyone

And the Prime Minister of Poland added to leaders warning that Europe must be ready for . “I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept of the past,” Donald Tusk says. In a joint interview with all the material he gave to European newspapers (Le Soir, Gazeta Wyborcza, El País, Die Welt and La Repubblica), former President of the European Council and former President of the European People’s Party (ELC) Donald Tusk speaks about the Russian threat, war in Ukraine, the rise of populism, immigration and the triangle of Weimar. Asked whether war is inevitable, the Polish Prime Minister answers: “I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept of the past. He’s real, started two years ago. What’s more worrying today is that all scenarios are possible. We have not experienced such a situation since 1945.” He also adds that, although it seems disastrous especially for younger generations, “we must realise the arrival of a new era”. Donald Tusk confesses that in the last European Council Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez asked that the word “war” be used in statements. The Polish Prime Minister explained that in the part of Europe where his country is located, war is no longer an abstract concept and that it is our duty to act and prepare. “We have to be ready. Europe still has a lot to do. Fortunately there is already a real revolution in the European mentality,” the Polish Prime Minister points out, noting that no one is questioning the need for a common defence anymore. Yes to the Greek proposal for Eurobonds D. Tusk is in favour of the debate on European bonds in the field of defence and the greater involvement of the European Investment Bank which Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had proposed in the last European Council. He also adds that 2% of GDP in Defence is a necessity for all NATO countries, regardless of each country’s security situation. “Today we must spend as much as possible on equipment and ammunition for Ukraine, because we have been living at the most crucial moment since the end of World War II. In the next two years everything will be judged. If we cannot support Ukraine with enough equipment and ammunition, if Ukraine loses, no one in Europe will be able to feel safe,” stresses D. Tusk. He also notes the need for new investment in the purchase of weapons for Ukraine and notes: “I had to convince our partners, including France, not to block the agreement because of purchases of equipment outside Europe. 80% of the EUR 100 billion spent by the EU on the purchase of equipment and ammunition went to non-European suppliers, including 60 billion in the US. Fortunately President Macron changed his place to spend money outside Europe.” At the same time, he appears optimistic that US aid of $60 billion will be “unlocked”. Donald Tusk stresses that “our main duty” should be to protect it from the Russian invasion and “to preserve Ukraine as an independent and integral state”. He also adds that the country’s future is primarily in the hands of not only the EU, but of the entire West which should ensure that Ukraine can avoid pessimistic scenarios. According to D. Tusk whoever wins the next election in the US, Europe must do more in the field of defence. “I believe we need a strong alliance with America, while we are independent and self-sufficient in defense. Our duty is to maintain transatlantic ties, regardless of who the American president is,” he points out. Asked about the terrorist attack on Crocus Hall Center in Moscow, used by Putin as a “preface” to intensify the war in Ukraine, the Polish Prime Minister replies: “History tells us Putin uses such tragedies for his own purposes. We remember what happened after the dubrovka theater attack or Beslan school. Putin has already started blaming Ukraine for this attack, although he has not presented any evidence. Clearly it must justify increasingly violent attacks on political objectives in Ukraine. Last Monday Russia attacked Kiev in broad daylight for the first time with ultrasonic missiles.” Asked whether after the European elections there will be a coalition between Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals again or whether the PPE will join forces with the far right, D. Tusk leaves such a possibility open. He replies that the far right is part of the government coalitions in Sweden, Finland, in several Spanish regions and it remains to be seen whether this will not happen after the elections in Portugal. Finally, with regard to immigration, D. Tusk refers to the tooling of migrants from the Belarusian Lukashenko regime at the border of Poland, stressing that it is ‘the State’s responsibility to effectively protect its borders and territory’.