Prime Minister Tusk has donated an autographed Robin van Persie Arsenal shirt to Poland's top charity auction, which was given to him by Britain's prime minister David Cameron.

photo - KPRM

The number 10 shirt was worn by Netherlands captain Van Persie wore when he played for London club Arsenal, before transfering to Manchester United at the start of the 2012/13 season.

Donald Tusk, who, like several Polish politicians supports Arsenal, said Prime Minister David Cameron gave him the shirt "as a token of appreciation for help Poland gave Britain during a very difficult and specific situation some years ago," Tusk says in a video on the Prime Minister's Office web site.

"The shirt is very valuable to me as a souvenir," Tusk added.

The Arsenal shirt will be auctioned at the annual Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (Wielkiej Orkiestry Świątecznej Pomocy) charity marathon this weekend.

Tusk and Cameron spoke this week for 40 minutes about the British prime minister's plans to try and limit the availability of welfare benefits to EU migrants, which the Polish PM has said were "totally unacceptable".

On Thursday, when asked about a Polish MP's call for a boycott in Poland of the British supermarket Tesco in protest at the plans, Cameron told journalists that "Yes, I have seen the reports. It's part of the [European parliamentary] election campaign in Poland." (pg)