Donald Tusk may have been named the “most powerful person in Europe” in a survey published this week – but one UK-based Brexiteer has suggested the former European Council President is “simply an EU apparatchik”.
And Ben Habib, Reform UK’s deputy leader, was also baffled by the exclusion of Netherlands politician Geert Wilders – a man who he said was on a mission to “finish” the EU.
Mr Tusk, widely expected to become Prime Minister of Poland in the next few days, is singled out by Politico in a report published earlier this week. This contrasted him with political rival Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, which lost its overall majority following the recent general election.
The report divides the other people on the list into three categories: doers, dreamers and disrupters. Georgia Meloni is named Europe’s top “doer”, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is singled out as its top “Dreamer”. Nigel Farage is ranked 8th.
Nevertheless, Reform UK deputy leader Ben Habib was highly sceptical. He told Express.co.uk: “The list of people and their categorisation is baffling.
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“I certainly would not have Nigel categorised as a dreamer. He is at least a disrupter if not a doer, having changed dramatically the course of not just the UK but also the EU; possible fatally wounding the latter.
“And I would class Tusk as a candidate for nothing more than continuity of EU orthodoxy. He is incapable of stamping his own mark on anything.
“He has no mark. He is simply an EU apparatchik. Kaczynski on the other hand has a clear traditional vision for Poland with the working class at the centre of his agenda.
“You may not like his politics, but he is a proud Pole and an individual. By contrast, Tusk’s presence in a room of EU bureaucrats would go unnoticed.”
Mr Habib also described it as “curious” to place Ms Meloni on the list of top “doers”. He explained: “She has achieved very little as prime minister of Italy.
“Like so many before her and across Europe she made big promises and delivered on close to none of them. Having been elected to stop the boats, she has presided over an explosion in illegal migration. She is not a doer, a disrupter or even a dreamer.”
Moving on to recent events in the Netherlands, and the strong performance of 60-year-old’s right-wing Party for Freedom, Mr Habib continued: “The absence of Geert Wilders from the list is telling. The future of the EU arguably lies in his hands.
“He could be the next Prime Minister of the Netherlands and even if he is not, his influence will guide the next Dutch administration. Geert is an ardent Eurosceptic and the Netherlands is a large financial contributor to the European project. If he gets his way, the EU would undoubtedly be finished.”
With reference to Mr Tusk, Politico’s analysis explains: “His performance in the EU’s fifth most-populous country – secured despite increasingly desperate attempts by PiS to tilt the playing field using the state-controlled media and Poland’s coffers – showed that even in a flawed system, it is possible to beat back entrenched populists on a platform of returning to the mainstream. It’s a sliver of hope for centrists across the Continent, who have watched in despair as populist forces moved from the fringes and into government: Giorgia Meloni is in power in Italy, Putin pal Robert Fico is back in Slovakia, the far-right Alternative for Germany is surging in the polls, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party looks stronger than ever.”
On Ms Meloni, it says: “Meloni has moved to implement constitutional reforms that would significantly boost prime ministerial powers. And she still throws plenty of red meat to her far-right base.”
As for Mr Farage, the report explains: “He’s never held ministerial office or sat as an MP, but few have wielded more outsized influence over British politics than Nigel Farage. The former MEP and Brexiteer, now a host on Britain’s GB News channel, claims to have “retired” from politics – but if you believe that, we’ve got a bridge over the Channel to sell you.”
