Donald Tusk (22 April 1957-) was Prime Minister of Poland from 16 November 2007 to 22 September 2014, succeeding Jaroslaw Kaczynski and preceding Ewa Kopacz, and President of the European Council from 1 December 2014, succeeding Herman Van Rompuy.
Biography
Donald Tusk was born in Gdansk, Poland on 22 April 1957, the grandson of a Kashubian soldier in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. He was active in the anti-communist Students' Solidarity Committee at the University of Gdsansk before graduating in 1980, and he cofounded the Liberal Democratic Congress party, which later merged into the Freedom Union of Poland. He became deputy chairman of the Freedom Union and was elected to the Sejm in 1997. In 2001, Tusk co-founded the Civic Platform party, leading the party from 2003 to 2014. In 2007, his party won control of the government, and Tusk became the new Prime Minister of Poland. Tusk raised the taxes on diesel oil, alcohol, tobacco, and coal, and he eliminated tax exemptions. However, he sought to outlaw gambling and supported moderate social conservatism, opposing swine flu vaccines, abortion on demand, euthanasia, and the legalization of marijuana. He also sought to repair relations with Germany and Russia, two countries which had been attacked by Jaroslaw Kaczynski's regime, and he supported defense cooperation with the United States. In 2014, after leaving office as Prime Minister, he became the head of the European Council of the European Union, and he warned economic migrants not to come to Europe and sought to deal with the migrant crisis.