Tusk, a former European Council president, is scheduled to meet with von der Leyen in the Belgian capital, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Later in the day, he will also hold talks with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and with leaders of European centre-right parties, according to the Reuters news agency.
At stake is EUR 35.4 billion in grants and loans for Poland from the EU’s recovery fund, which has been suspended over rule-of-law concerns under Warsaw’s outgoing conservative government, news outlets reported.
Notably, Brussels has demanded that Poland restores the independence of its judiciary system, the PAP news agency noted.
For the same reasons, Poland has been denied access to EUR 76.5 billion in EU cohesion funds, designed to raise the standard of living in the bloc’s poorer regions, according to Reuters.
Tusk, who led Poland’s government between 2007 and 2014, has been put forward as a candidate for prime minister again by three opposition groups that have a clear majority in parliament following elections on October 15, the PAP news agency reported.
Tusk heads Poland’s largest opposition bloc, the centrist Civic Coalition.
A senior Civic Coalition politician, Jan Grabiec, said on Tuesday that Tusk had “a plan to fast-track the release of frozen EU funds.”
Grabiec told private broadcaster TVN24 that “of key importance will be Wednesday’s talks with EU chief von der Leyen.”
During the election campaign, Tusk vowed to travel to Brussels and unblock EU recovery funds, the PAP news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters