Tusk celebrates ‘no Russians in the room’ at EU summit — then winks at Fico

Diplomats and officials have described a “totally new mood” in EU meetings since Orbán’s ouster, with long-frozen dossiers on sanctions, enlargement and Ukraine aid now expected to move forward.

Tusk also said he was “a little bit skeptical” about the prospect of negotiating with Russia to end the war in Ukraine and called on the EU to be “as tough as possible” in penalties against Moscow. The bloc’s long-delayed 20th round of sanctions against Moscow entered force the day before, after Budapest and Bratislava dropped their vetoes.

The Polish leader then struck an optimistic note, hailing conservative Péter Magyar’s election victory in Hungary as proof that “democrats are not losers.” He pointed to results in similar outcomes in Warsaw, Bucharest, Chișinău and Budapest as evidence “there is a future for Europe, for democracy, for rule of law.”

He later posted the “no Russians in the room” line on X (with no mention of Fico).