An opening gala was held at the National Theatre in Warsaw as Poland inaugurated its six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, which it assumed on 1 January 2025.
Poland has held a celebratory gala in Warsaw to mark the beginning of its second ever presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The country is tasked with guiding the Council’s work and representing all member states in negotiations with other EU institutions. The spot rotates among the EU’s 27 member states every six months, with Hungary wrapping up its own controversial tenure in December.
During the gala, Polish and European leaders witnessed a show by composer Radzimir Dębski, who wrote an entirely new piece for the occasion and performed several works alongside the orchestra and choir of the National Theatre.
Titled Ukłon (“Bow” in English), the piece was inspired by Polish classical music, which includes the likes of Karol Szymanowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Wojciech Kilar, and Grażyna Bacewiczówna.
Among the first to take the stage in Warsaw was Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
“Everyone in Europe and everyone here in this beautiful room knows exactly what we have undertaken,” Tusk said in his opening remarks, “But I want to say that the Polish presidency is there to use our national wisdom, our national experience.”
“If Europe is powerless, it will not survive. Let’s do everything so that Europe and Poland do not have to pay the highest price for freedom, for strength, for sovereignty. Let’s do everything to make Europe strong again,” Tusk remarked.
Poland, once known as a thorn in the side of EU Politics, now takes centre stage. In his speech, Prime Minister Tusk emphasised the close connection between European and Polish values, calling Poland “the most pro-European nation on the continent.”
Notably absent from the inaugural celebration was President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, whose office announced she’d fallen ill with pneumonia prior to the event. Polish President Andrzej Duda also did not attend.
Hungary’s ambassador to Poland was earlier disinvited from the ceremony following a diplomatic spat between the two countries where Polish fugitive lawmaker Marcin Romanowski was granted asylum in Hungary.
Marked by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the crisis at the Polish-Belarussian border, Poland’s presidency is set to be focused on European security and defence.
“Poland is taking the helm at the EU at the best possible moment,” European Council President Antonio Costa said at the event. “The vitality of Polish democracy and the sense of national identity of its citizens strengthen the entire European Union,” he said, while also stressing the importance of continued support for Ukraine.
