Poland has threatened to derail a summit of EU leaders in Brussels over the probable re-election of Donald Tusk as European council president.

The presidency was the first item on the agenda as leaders gathered in Brussels, but Poland has threatened to veto the summit’s conclusions if leaders re-elect Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who has been in a long-running battle with the current government in Warsaw.

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The country’s foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, speaking on the eve of the summit said: “We will inform our partners that the entire summit is at risk if they force the vote today. We’ll do everything we can to ensure that the vote won’t take place today.”

Tusk has widespread support among the member states, and is expected to be reappointed despite Warsaw’s bellicose talk. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said that granting Tusk a second term would be a “sign of stability”.

“I don’t see how one country could oppose this solution when all the others are in favour,” said the French president, François Hollande, as he arrived for the summit, echoing comments from many of the bloc’s 28 leaders.

The Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat, who will oversee Thursday’s election for presidency of the EU council for the next two and a half years, said that consultations over the past week had shown “very solid support” for Tusk.

The job is one of the bloc’s most prestigious. It involves chairing summits, coordinating the work of the member countries and making sure the 28 nations speak as much as possible with one voice on the international stage.

Rutte, who is currently fighting for his political life in the Dutch general elections, also offered his support to Tusk, suggesting that while consensus on the issue would be ideal, the decision might be taken without Warsaw’s approval. Hungary, which had appeared to be wavering on the issue, also indicated that it was convinced that Tusk should continue.

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Tusk said on Wednesday he was “ready for this judgment” by the 28 leaders and rejected criticism by the Polish prime minister, Beata Szydło, that he had “brutally violated” his job’s supposed political neutrality. “I am, and I should be also in the future, impartial and politically neutral,” he said.

The prime minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, said the seven liberal prime ministers of EU member states had discussed blocking Tusk’s re-election on the basis that it was unfair for men from the centre-right European people’s party to have the presidency of the European commission, the European parliament and the council, but that they did not want to cause an unnecessary crisis.

Arriving at a pre-summit meeting of liberal leaders, Rutte said those who sought ever greater political union had lost the argument and that there was broad support for a much more focused EU.



He said: “We’re no longer dreaming about Europe, but talking about a more effective Europe. It means a concentrated, more focused European Union, and no longer dreaming about a federalist future or ever closer union – those days are gone now. That is good news.”

The future of Europe once the UK leaves will be top of the agenda after the British prime minister, Theresa May, departs from Brussels. On Thursday afternoon leaders of the current member states, including May, will discuss the migration crisis and increased tensions in the western Balkans.