EU picks Poland’s Tusk as new head; first job to bare fangs at Russia

European Union leaders have chosen Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk to chair their Council and named Italian Federica Mogherini to run the bloc’s foreign relations, as they prepared to threaten Russia with new sanctions over Ukraine. The appointment of Tusk as president of the European Council marked a major advance in influence for the eastern states who joined the bloc this century and who share non-member Ukraine’s concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions. But many of the powerful western countries have hesitated to toughen trade sanctions for fear of damaging their own economies. Some of them, like Italy, are heavily reliant on Russian gas. In her first comments, Mogherini stressed the need to work for a lasting diplomatic deal with Russia.

As we think and we work on the level of sanctions, we also have to keep the diplomatic way open … hoping that the combination, a wise combination, can be effective.

European Union foreign policy head Federica Mogherini

The appointments of Tusk and Mogherini balance the interests of left and right-wing factions across the bloc, eastern and western states, northern Europe and the south, as well as satisfying some pressure for more women in senior EU roles. Tusk, a conservative easterner, replacing the Belgian Herman Van Rompuy; Mogherini from the centre left takes over as the bloc’s foreign policy chief, replacing Briton Catherine Ashton. Mogherini dismissed suggestions she was too young and inexperienced at 41 and pledged to speak for a “new generation” of Europeans to promote peace in the region and beyond. Tusk will also chair summits of the euro zone countries, even though Poland has yet to adopt the common EU currency.

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