European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo will visit Warsaw on Friday (Feb.23) to hold trilateral talks with head of the Polish government Donald Tusk. The three politicians are likely to discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as Tusk cabinet's efforts to restore the rule of law in Poland.
Von der Leyen's and De Croo's visit was announced on Tuesday (Feb.20) by EU spokesperson Eric Mamer. It was later confirmed by Poland's Government Information Center (CIR). However, neither source revealed the planned topics of discussion.
The three politicians are to hold a press conference after the talks, which will likely pertain to the second anniversary of Russia's aggression against Ukraine as well as Poland's efforts to restore the rule of law after
Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna told Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Tuesday that such visits usually meant to "announce something important".
Asked if von der Leyen and Tusk could possibly announce a pay-out of the first tranche of the unlocked EU funds for Poland, Szejna said he was not authorized to comment on the issue.
Szejna is a member of a rule of law restoration task force led by Poland's Justice Minister Adam Bodnar.
Second meeting
The previous meeting between Tusk and von der Leyen took place on Dec. 15 in Brussels. It was during Tusk's first foreign trip after taking over as Poland's prime minister.
"For long we haven't had such a loyal and cordial ally of Polish affairs," Tusk said about von der Leyen at the time.
The EU Commission chief said she welcomed Polish PM's plans gladly, with the rule of law restoration as one of the main objectives. "We need to make up for lost time. And I look forward in particular to working closely together on addressing the milestones on judicial independence," she added.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, tvn24.pl