Donald Tusk, the current president of the European People's Party, is returning to Polish domestic politics. Under his leadership, one of the largest party groups in the European Parliament has suffered major setbacks. However, Mr Tusk can't expect too warm of a welcome in his native Poland, either.

The European People’s Party (EPP) will hold its general assembly and congress in Rotterdam on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since 2019, Donald Tusk has been at the helm of the EPP. However, the politician of the Polish Civic Platform decided to return to domestic politics and the European party grouping will elect a new president.

Tusk is quitting as EPP president just as „the empire is is decline”, writes the Brussels-based Politico portal, noting that the EU’s largest party grouping is now a shadow of its former elf and has steadily lost its importance under the leadership of Tusk.

The EPP’s parties have suffered major setbacks in recent years, the article points out. Less than a third of EU leaders are EPP politicians and members of the party group fail to perform well in national elections. The biggest loss came last autumn during the German elections, when the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a major force in the party family, was forced into opposition. In the French presidential elections this spring, The Republicans’ candidate also failed in the first round, producing very poor results.

Ideological divisions within the party family have also sharpened, with harsh debates developing within the essentially conservative-right grouping, exacerbated by the migration crisis. This is one of the reasons why the EPP has lost Fidesz, Hungary’s larger ruling party, the chairman of which is PM Viktor Orban.

Politico also underlines that many were dissatisfied with the leadership of Donald Tusk. He had little visible activity and failed to strengthen the party family’s positions. In the past few months, some even accused him of focusing on his return to Poland and Polish domestic politics, rather than on leading the EPP.

However, Tusk’s return to Poland is not problem-free. He was the country’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014, before turning to EU politics. According to a February poll, a large majority of Poles do not believe that if Tusk were to become prime minister again after the upcoming elections, he would govern better than he did between 2007 and 2014.