Donald Tusk Claims Anti-European Forces Meddled in Brexit Vote

THE GUARDIAN: European council president echoes Emmanuel Macron’s warning of malign influences

Donald Tusk has claimed external powers meddled in the Brexit vote as he called for EU member states to do more to protect the upcoming European elections.

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels with the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, the European council president said he agreed with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who used an editorial in the Guardian and other newspapers to call on European countries to be alert to malign influences.

“There are external anti-European forces, which are seeking – openly or secretly – to influence the democratic choices of Europeans, as was the case with Brexit and a number of election campaigns across Europe. And it may again be the case with the European elections in May,” said Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland and vociferous critic of Vladimir Putin.

Tusk’s intervention echoed fears Russia sought to foment anti-EU sentiment during the 2016 EU referendum campaign in the UK. » | Daniel Boffey in Brussels | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Donald Tusk: 'Special Place in Hell' for Those Who Backed Brexit without Plan

THE GUARDIAN: European council president also says remain movement has no effective leadership

Donald Tusk, the European council president, has said there is a “special place in hell” for politicians who promoted Brexit “without even a sketch of a plan”, while he reiterated the EU’s refusal to renegotiate the withdrawal treaty.

Speaking to journalists after meeting the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, Tusk also took aim at Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, claiming there was a leadership void at the heart of the remain movement.

Tusk, who has never disguised his hopes that the UK might change its mind, said he knew there were “still a very great number of people” in the UK, on the continent and in Ireland who wanted to reverse the decision.

“I have always been with you with all my heart, but the facts are unmistakable. At the moment the pro-Brexit stance of the UK prime minister and the leader of the opposition rules out this question. Today there is no political force and no effective leadership for remain.” » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Wednesday, February 6, 2019

EU Leaders React to May’s Brexit Deal

Theresa May's having dinner tonight at the Felsenreitschule, an old theatre in Salzburg well known from the closing scenes in 'The Sound of Music'.

She's got a ten-minute slot to make her Brexit pitch and convince the EU leaders present to back her Chequers plan. But the path seems far from clear, with the European Council President, Donald Tusk, warning the UK's proposals will need to be reworked. So how will the EU's major players go about solving a problem like Theresa?

Donald Tusk Suggests Brexit Could Be Halted

The president of the European council says the EU 27 are united in negotiations on Brexit. Speaking on Tuesday, he was addressing a plenary session at the European parliament when he said the talks could result in 'a good deal, no deal or no Brexit'. The president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, told MEPs that the EU was seeking a fair deal with the UK European council president suggests Brexit could be halted

BREXIT Negotiations - Tusk: UK Offer for EU Citizens "Below Expectations" - BBC News

UK offer for EU citizens "below expectations" & "risks worsening the situation" - EU Council President Donald Tusk

Brexit: 'Dreamer' Tusk Says UK May Yet Stay in the EU

Britain Set to Lose EU ‘Crown Jewels’

THE GUARDIAN: Rival member states vie to attract prestigious European agencies

The EU is set to inflict a double humiliation on Theresa May, stripping Britain of its European agencies within weeks, while formally rejecting the prime minister’s calls for early trade talks.

The Observer has learned that EU diplomats agreed their uncompromising position at a crunch meeting on Tuesday, held to set out the union’s strategy in the talks due to start next month.

A beauty contest between member states who want the European banking and medicine agencies, currently located in London, will begin within two weeks, with selection criteria to be unveiled by the president of the European council, Donald Tusk.

The European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency employ about 1,000 people, many of them British, and provide a hub for businesses in the UK. It is understood that the EU’s chief negotiator hopes the agencies will know their new locations by June, although the process may take longer. Cities such as Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris are competing to take the agencies, which are regarded as among the EU’s crown jewels. Read on and comment » | Daniel Boffey | Saturday, April 15, 2017

'We Already Miss You': Donald Tusk's Message to Britain

The president of the European council, Donald Tusk, gives his reaction on Wednesday to the letter from the prime minister, Theresa May, triggering article 50, the official start of the Brexit process. Speaking in Brussels, Tusk says: ‘There is no reason to pretend this is a happy day in Brussels or in London’

Read and comment on the Guardian article here

Europe: US VP Mike Pence Takes Charm Offensive to EU and NATO in Brussels

European Union: Donald Tusk Warns Of Trump Impact

Greg Palkot reports from London

US under Trump among External Threats to EU – Council President Tusk

European Council President Donald Tusk has called the US under President Donald Trump one of the external threats to the EU along with China, Russia and radical Islam.

It's Hard Brexit or No Brexit At All, Says EU Council President

European Union chief Donald Tusk says on Thursday that there will be no compromise of EU principles in negotiating Britain’s departure from the union. Tusk warned that London is heading for a hard Brexit. Speaking in Brussels at a European Policy Centre event, Tusk insisted that Britain cannot hope both to stay in Europe’s single market and restrict the movement of EU migrants

Read the article here »

Britain May Decide against Brexit When They Realise Just How Painful It Will Be, Warns EU Chief

THE TELEGRAPH: Britain may decide not to leave the EU when faced with the reality of a “hard Brexit”, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council said last night, warning that the upcoming divorce talks would be “painful”.

His intervention came as Europe continues to harden its approach towards the negotiations after Theresa May’s shift towards a “hard Brexit”, revealed at last week’s Conservative Party conference.

Mr Tusk said Mrs May’s pledge to end the free movement of EU workers, stop EU budget payments and restore the primacy of UK law-making meant Britain had opted to “radically loosen” its ties to Europe. » | Peter Foster, Europe Editor; Peter Dominiczak, Political Editor; Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter and Patrick Sawer, Senior Reporter | Thursday, October 13, 2016

Greece: 'Do Not Come to Europe,' EU's Tusk Tells Economic Migrants

Belgium: EU and Turkey Agree €3bn Package for Syrian Refugees, Confirms Tusk

President of the European Council Donald Tusk confirmed on Sunday that a “major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey” is coming from a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker following the Heads of States of the European Union with Turkey meeting.

Belgium: EU to 'Re-energise Relations with Turkey' at Brussels Talks - Tusk

European Union leaders met in Brussels, Sunday, to coordinate plans with Turkey on stemming the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe. President of the European Council Donald Tusk announced that "after many weeks of hard work and tough talks, we have reached an agreement which I hope will be accepted today by all parties concerned."

We're Doomed: EU Chief Fears Union Will COLLAPSE Over Migrant Crisis

EXPRESS: THE European Union has lost control of its borders and risks total collapse if they are not sealed, a senior Brussels diplomat has warned.

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, warned the EU was now facing a "critical point" and that the migrant crisis hadn't even reached its peak.

As he chaired an emergency meeting of EU leaders in Brussels last night Mr Tusk painted a bleak picture of the EU's future, saying the 28-member bloc was on the verge of breakdown with "recriminations and misunderstanding" pitting nations against one another.

The future of free movement was at stake, he said, as the continent had lost control of its borders as well as a "sense of order".

He added: "The most urgent question we should ask ourselves...is how to regain control of our external borders.

"Otherwise, it doesn't make sense to even speak about common migration policy."

He appeared to lay much of the blame with Germany, accusing Chancellor Angela Merkel of exacerbating the problem by sending the signal to desperate Syrians fleeing their war-torn homeland that Germany had no limit on the number of migrants it would accept. » | Tom Batchelor | Thursday, September 24, 2015