Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been listed by the Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. Tusk received a written laudation from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Time's Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote that the list includes people who "most changed the stories that define the past year".
The famous American magazine has placed the chief of the current Polish government Donald Tusk on the 2024 TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wrote a special laudation on the occasion, in which she underscored Tusk's achievements in the fight against populism.
The German politician stressed that, throughout his career, Tusk has managed to find answers to the following questions: "How can we beat populists? How can we stop the erosion of democracy and the rule of law?".
"As a young student, he became an activist in the underground Solidarnosc social movement. When the Iron Curtain collapsed, he became one of the first leaders of the young Polish democracy. Throughout his public service - as a party founder, as Prime Minister, and then as President of the European Council - Tusk has never stopped believing in the supremacy of democracy," she added.
"After former fellow campaigners against the communist regime in Poland took over the country’s government in 2015 and began to undermine the rule of law and Poland’s ties with the European Union, he took on the challenge. In 2021, he once again became the leader of the party he had founded in 2001 - and in 2023, he won back the government of his home country in a fair and democratic contest," we read.
"Donald Tusk is a political marathon runner. He has taught us all that it is never too late and worth every effort to stand up for our democracy," EU Commission chief concluded.
Next to CIA chief, Chinese PM, and Yulia Navalnaya
Tusk is one of the 24 people listed by Time magazine in the "leaders" category. The Polish politician has been selected along such names as Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the recently deceased Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, CIA Director William J. Burns, China's Prime Minister Li Qiang, President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
Time's Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs said the list includes "the people who we believe most changed the stories that define the past year".
TIME will celebrate the 2024 TIME100 list of the world's most influential people at the TIME100 Summit on April 24 and the TIME100 Gala on April 25 in New York City. The gala will air as a primetime television special on May 12 on ABC.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, time.com