BRUSSELS ― Slovakia’s prime minister told EU leaders at a summit last week that a meeting with Donald Trump left him shocked by the U.S. president’s state of mind, five European diplomats briefed on the conversation said. Robert Fico, one of the few EU leaders to frequently support Trump’s stance on Europe’s weaknesses, was concerned about the U.S. president’s “psychological state,” two of the diplomats said. Fico used the word “dangerous” to describe how the U.S. president came across during their face-to-face meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Jan. 17, according to two of the diplomats. The conversation between Fico and his European counterparts took place in Brussels on Jan. 22 on the sidelines of an emergency EU summit arranged to discuss transatlantic relations in the wake of Trump’s threats to seize Greenland. Leaders used that gathering to try to calm tensions after the U.S. president walked back his threat to slap tariffs on some European countries over the issue a day earlier. The Slovak prime minister made his remarks in a separate informal huddle between some leaders and chief EU officials rather than during the formal roundtable talks, the diplomats said. While none of the diplomats who spoke to POLITICO were present, individual leaders briefed them separately on the content of the conversation shortly after it. All the diplomats were granted anonymity by POLITICO to allow them to discuss the confidential exchanges between leaders. They come from four different EU governments. The fifth is a senior EU official. All of them said they didn’t know the details of what Trump had said to Fico that had triggered his reaction. Fico’s comments are especially pertinent because he’s among Europe’s most pro-Trump politicians, touting his access to the U.S. president in a Facebook video after the Mar-a-Lago meeting and voicing support for Washington’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war. A year ago, Fico spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference and told Americans “your president is doing Europe a great service.” Spokespeople for Fico did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said: “This is absolutely total fake news from anonymous European diplomats who are trying to be relevant. The meeting at Mar-a-Lago was positive and productive.” A senior administration official who was in the meeting with Trump and Fico, granted anonymity to describe the conversation, said they couldn’t recall any awkward moments or off-key exchanges. They said the meeting, which Fico had requested, was pleasant, normal and included some lighthearted exchanges that were captured by a White House photographer. Fico seemed to be “traumatized” by his encounter with Trump, one of the European diplomats said. Fico characterized Trump as being “out of his mind,” a diplomat said, using the words briefed to them by their leader, who was directly involved in the conversation. DEEP CRISIS Fico’s private concerns contrast with the public account of his Mar-a-Lago visit that he gave via his official Facebook post. In that video, Fico said his invitation to Trump’s Florida residence was a sign of “high respect and trust” from the U.S. president. The two leaders discussed Ukraine as well as their shared view that the EU was in “deep crisis” during what Fico called “informal and open talks.” Fico, who signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal with Washington while on his trip to the U.S., did not mention Trump’s claims on Greenland or his operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro earlier in January in the video. He said discussions had focused on issues including Ukraine, asserting that Washington sought his view because Slovakia is “not a Brussels parrot” — meaning that it does not echo the positions of EU institutions. Robert Fico characterized Donald Trump as being “out of his mind,” a diplomat said, using the words briefed to them by their leader, who was directly involved in the conversation. | Shawn Thew/EPA Even without Fico’s remarks, Europe’s leaders and senior officials are increasingly concerned about the U.S. president’s “unpredictability,” according to a sixth EU diplomat, who was not briefed directly by a leader on last week’s conversation. Fears about the U.S. president’s health are “rapidly becoming a more conversed topic at all levels,” said an EU official who is involved in political discussions in Brussels and between capitals. Trump, 79, has repeatedly and forcefully denied that he suffers from any condition affecting his cognition, telling New York Magazine this week that he doesn’t suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. ‘I WON’T DO THAT, OK?’ Ever since Trump returned to office a year ago, European governments have been grappling with how to deal with his positions on issues such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, his administration’s apparent backing for far-right politicians, barriers to free trade, and the U.S. role in the continent’s defense. Earlier this month, Trump threatened new tariffs on eight European countries, including France, Germany and the U.K., which he said were blocking his efforts to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory belonging to Denmark, an EU and NATO member. He also didn’t rule out taking the island by force. In a speech in Davos, Switzerland last Wednesday, the U.S. president demanded “immediate negotiations” to obtain Greenland, but ruled out the use of military action. “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be frankly unstoppable. But I won’t do that, OK?” Trump said in the speech. After the speech, he said he’d agreed on a framework of a deal on Greenland with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and withdrew his threat, although the details of the apparent agreement have still not been made public. At last week’s summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the EU’s two most powerful leaders, warned their counterparts that despite that apparent deal, the bloc needed to become less dependent on the U.S. for its security. Speaking after the gathering, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suggested the leaders had learned the lesson that standing up to Trump in a “firm” but “non-escalatory” way was an effective strategy that they should continue.  Jacopo Barigazzi, Camille Gijs and Tom Nicholson contributed reporting.

European leaders descend on Brussels this evening for a crunch summit with the transatlantic relationship top of their agenda. U.S. President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday from his most belligerent threats about seizing Greenland from Denmark, but that hasn’t assuaged European concerns about America’s posture toward Europe. It’s another busy day in Davos too, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaking and Trump potentially set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And if that wasn’t enough, Trump’s everything envoy Steve Witkoff is headed to the Kremlin for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Whew. Strap in.

WHEN POLITICIANS SAY THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD As Kaja Kallas’ unguarded comments showed, wisecracks and slips of the tongue often reveal far more than a carefully crafted speech. By GABRIEL GAVIN Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO When Hungary’s Viktor Orbán arrived at an EU summit in 2015, Jean-Claude Juncker said “the dictator is coming” and greeted him with a playful slap to the face. The then-European Commission president’s jab was a revealing glimpse into a political dynamic usually kept behind closed doors, or even just in leaders’ heads. Whether gaffe or veiled signal, the stunt sparked discussions about Hungary’s democratic backsliding. When everything they say is scrutinized and every statement twisted by political opponents, politicians have learned the need to keep quiet, to polish their communications and stay diplomatic. But under extraordinary pressure, in private or as a joke, the mask slips — betraying more than carefully worded speeches ever will. On Wednesday, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas summed up what many were thinking when she quipped privately that the state of the world makes it a “good moment” to start drinking. She might not have intended it as a serious assessment, but it offered a telling insight: Europe’s representative on the global stage thinks things are looking pretty dire. Some asides distill political truths that stand the test of time. Juncker’s declaration that European leaders “all know what to do, but we don’t know how to get re-elected once we’ve done it” came to be known as the “Juncker curse,” shorthand for the electoral challenges faced by reformist governments. “Advisers and communications people often try to stage-manage everything a politician says. But leaders are human and sometimes they just say what they’re thinking — either in jest or as the pressure of the job gets to them,” said Louis Rynsard, a former political adviser in the U.K. House of Commons and co-founder of Milton Advisers. “The instinctive reaction is ‘oh, dear God, what just happened,’ but nine times out of 10 political leaders being human works better than all the beautiful crafted PR lines ever could. For the one out of 10, you just have to hope no one was listening.” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris early this month. De Wever, hailed as Europe’s funniest leaders, likes to use “dark humor” to get his point across. | Teresa Suarez/EPA For those living in a world of secrets, what they laugh about can reveal their attitudes to things they can’t openly discuss. “There’s only so much politicians can carry around with them and you get this sort of leakage of ideas, things that have been half thought-through,” said Ashley Weinberg, senior lecturer at the University of Salford and author of The Psychology of Politicians. Britain’s royal family is famously measured in its communications. Yet King Charles was uncharacteristically frank when he welcomed his first prime minister, Liz Truss, to a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace in 2022, just as her proposed budget threw the markets into turmoil. “Back again? Dear, oh dear,” he smiled. Truss resigned 12 days later. According to political psychologist Ramzi Abou Ismail, those kinds of wisecracks can be “a way to pass on messages in a soft way, sort of saying ‘oh I don’t really mean it — unless you agree.'” Diplomats who have been in high-stakes international negotiations told POLITICO they’re often more jovial than people realize, an antidote to the anxiety that comes with high politics. “People would be surprised how often jokes get cracked in tense diplomatic situations and the whole room relaxes a bit and realizes they’re dealing with a human being,” said Chris Fitzgerald, a former British diplomat posted to Brussels during the Brexit negotiations. “The best lines are often those that are unscripted, and even better if they show you understand the culture of your interlocutor.” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, often hailed as the continent’s funniest leader, said after a European Council that he likes a well-timed quip using “dark humor” to get his point across. Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who earned a reputation for landing political zingers, said absurd political situations just call for laughter. “When you see what is happening in the world, just being serious about it doesn’t feel like it’s enough any more, you feel like the best way to engage with it is to show the absurdity,” he said. But “it’s not always a polished strategy,” said one EU diplomat, who has attended hundreds of sit-downs with counterparts in Brussels. “These meetings are often long and boring and you see an opportunity to make people laugh. Sometimes it lands and makes you look human, other times it backfires and causes problems.” That’s a balancing act U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Iceland flubbed last week, sparking a diplomatic crisis by joking his new host country would become a U.S. state at a time when the White House has been piling on pressure to seize Greenland. Ismail, the political psychologist, credits Trump with having stretched the boundaries of political norms so far that otherwise austere figures in Europe and elsewhere feel freer to speak frankly. “Trump didn’t just change the norms when it comes to political communication, the guy collapsed the boundaries between what is considered private cognition and public speech,” he said. European politicians are also realizing the value of being less polished. One EU official said the bloc’s institutions “have a notorious humor deficit,” which is an increasing disadvantage when it comes to getting Europe’s message out “in the era of the social media-effective Trumpian soundbite” and of a public that values plain speech. The jocular approach has been championed by Olof Gill, the European Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, who uses daily televised podium appearances to crack jokes and take swipes at rivals and reporters alike. “The value of the Commission’s midday press briefing as a live piece of political theater is substantial, and within that theater, humor can be a very useful device to take the sting out of a difficult question or highlight the absurdity of a political viewpoint,” he said. For his part, Orbán seemed to recognize the nature of the game when branded a dictator by Juncker. “Hungarians talk straight about tough things,” he said. “We don’t like to beat about the bush. We are a frank people.” These moments will only happen more frequently at a time when the established global order is collapsing — and leaders can often do little but laugh, Ismail said. “There’s also a sort of psychological adaptation to permanent crises in politics of the kind we’ve had for the past five years,” he said. “Leaders will be feeling crisis fatigue and this gives room for some humor, some irony, because it sort of breaks the pattern.” “Think of it as a valve, and then the humor just sort of releases the pressure.” Mari Eccles contributed reporting.

BRUSSELS — The EU is considering far-reaching trade measures — including €93 billion worth of tariffs against the U.S. — to deter Donald Trump from trying to wrest control of Greenland, according to eight diplomats and officials. During a three-hour meeting in Brussels on Sunday, diplomats from the bloc’s 27 governments underscored the importance of readying tangible options to fight back against Trump in case talks with Washington over the coming week don’t lead to a swift resolution, the officials said. The talks were hastily arranged after the U.S. president threatened 10 percent tariffs from Feb. 1, rising to 25 percent on June 1, on six EU countries plus the U.K. and Norway, which he considers to be standing in the way of his designs on the Artic territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. As the sense of crisis grows, European Council President António Costa said he would call a summit of EU leaders this week. “It’s clear that a line has been drawn and enough is enough,” said one diplomat with knowledge of Sunday’s talks. “But at the moment we are discussing options — if Trump’s tariffs are imposed, then then we will be discussing not what options there are but which options to use.” The €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs would be a reactivation of measures that the EU put on hold after the signing of a trade deal with the U.S. in July. Such a move could be taken “very quickly,” compared to some of the other options being discussed, according to a second EU diplomat briefed on the talks. An alternative would be to use the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), the EU’s “trade bazooka,” designed to penalize countries that use their markets as a tool for geopolitical blackmail, several officials said. This is a stronger measure and would come up against some concern from more cautious members of the bloc. Governments did not ask the European Commission to move forward with the deployment of the tool at this stage, according to three diplomats. Before Sunday’s discussions, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Brussels to activate the ACI, which includes restrictions on foreign direct investment and intellectual property protections. Two diplomats said France’s envoy raised the prospect in the room. Macron’s office said in a statement issued while the ambassadors were meeting that the president had spoken with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte, and reaffirmed the importance of a “firm, united, and coordinated European response through the activation of the anti-coercion instrument should the United States carry out its tariff threat.” “There are many ways forward,” said an EU diplomat. “There are other diplomatic and economic possibilities to act. Some can be spoken about publicly, others can’t.” Regardless of which option the EU ultimately chooses, all of the envoys said capitals intended to take their time before deciding on a course of action. “There’s a feeling in Europe that we have to react, that is clear,” said one of the diplomats briefed on the talks. “But also we shouldn’t feel pressure to end up in this tit-for-tat where they say something, we respond, then they respond … we may need two to three days to discuss this to figure out the next stage.” European leaders will meet Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos this week. The U.S. president is expected to attend on Wednesday, before the 27 leaders work out their response at the EU summit, which will probably be scheduled for Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the planning. The European Parliament on Saturday signaled it wants to freeze the U.S.-EU trade deal, which sets U.S. tariffs on imports from the EU at 15 percent in exchange for the bloc not applying levies on American exports.

The Italian government is satisfied with new funding promised by Brussels to European farmers and is signaling that it may cast its decisive vote in favor of the EU’s huge trade deal with the Latin American Mercosur bloc. Ahead of Friday’s vote by EU member countries, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Rome was happy with the European Commission’s efforts to make the deal more palatable. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida also said the accord represented an opportunity — especially for food exporters. “Italy has never changed its position: We have always supported the conclusion of the agreement,” Tajani said on Wednesday evening. Yet they stopped short of saying outright that Italy would vote in favor of the deal. Instead, within sight of the finish line, Rome is pressing to tighten additional safeguards to shield the EU farm market from being destabilized by any potential influx of South American produce. Rome’s endorsement of the accord, which has been a quarter century in the making and would create a free-trade zone spanning more than 700 million people, is crucial. A qualified majority of 15 of the EU’s 27 countries representing 65 percent of the bloc’s population is needed. Italy, with its large population, effectively holds the casting vote. France and Poland are still holding out against a pro-Mercosur majority led by Germany — but they lack the numbers to stall the deal. If it goes through, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could fly to Paraguay to sign the accord as soon as next week. The bloc’s other members are Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. ‘AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY’ Italy praised a raft of additional measures proposed by the Commission — including farm market safeguards and fresh budget promises on agriculture funding — as “the most comprehensive system of protections ever included in a free trade agreement signed by the EU.” Tajani, who as deputy prime minister oversees trade policy, has long taken a pro-Mercosur position. He said the deal would help the EU diversify its trade relationships and boost “the strategic autonomy and economic sovereignty of Italy and our continent.” Even Lollobrigida, who has sympathized in the past with farmers’ concerns on the deal, is striking a more positive tone. At a meeting hosted by the Commission in Brussels on Wednesday, Lollobrigida described Mercosur as “an excellent opportunity.” The minister, who is close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and is from her Brothers of Italy party, also said its provisions on so-called geographical indications would help Italy promote its world-famous delicacies in South America. It would mean no more ‘Parmesão,’” he said, referring to Italian-sounding knockoffs of the famed hard cheese. ONE MORE THING … Lollobrigida said Italy could back the deal if the farm market safeguards are tightened. The EU institutions agreed in December to require the Commission to investigate surges in imports of beef or poultry from Mercosur if volumes rise by 8 percent from the average, or if those imports undercut comparable EU products by a similar margin. Even Francesco Lollobrigida, who has sympathized in the past with farmers’ concerns on the deal, is striking a more positive tone. | Fabio Cimaglia/EPA “We want to go from 8 percent to 5 percent. And we believe that the conditions are there to also reach this goal,” Lollobrigida told Italian daily IlSole24Ore in an interview on Thursday. Meloni pulled the emergency brake at a pre-Christmas EU summit, forcing the Commission to delay the final vote on the deal while it worked on ways to address her concerns around EU farm funding. In response Von der Leyen proposed this week to offer earlier access to up to €45 billion in agricultural funding under the bloc’s next long-term budget. Giorgio Leali reported from Paris and Gerardo Fortuna from Brussels.

BRUSSELS — Europe is used to last-minute plot twists at summits, but this one raised the bar. After a marathon summit, leaders agreed on a plan to provide funding for Ukraine based on EU joint debt, although three countries refused to sign up. That wasn’t the plan most EU countries had been pushing for, which was to use frozen Russian assets to help Kyiv’s war effort. Here’s who won, and who lost, at this crunch summit for Europe. WINNERS Bart De Wever The Belgian prime minister delivered a masterclass in stoic resistance against using Russian assets, a plan he had opposed since its inception. For most of the time, he was the lone holdout to the plan, until Italy and a few others voiced doubts late in the day. His key tactic? After weeks of resistance to using frozen assets, which he said would have massively exposed his country to potential Russian retaliation, De Wever’s team showed up willing to negotiate all day with European Commission officials, only to put forward a demand calling for “uncapped” support from other EU countries. That proved too much to stomach and made Plan B — joint borrowing — the only option (one that few wanted but most could live with). Giorgia Meloni The real kingmaker of the summit, the Italian prime minister dictated the pace on the EU-Mercosur trade deal and also timed her intervention on Ukraine funding perfectly. After weeks of staying in the shadows — with Belgium fighting the battle against using frozen Russian assets — Meloni let others exhaust their options before stepping in with a gentle nudge late at night, once the reparation loan plan was already dead. EU diplomats told POLITICO that Meloni didn’t even take the floor to speak during the first part of the summit, but she closed the deal. António Costa If finding a deal was hard, finding one in a single day bordered on the inconceivable. Yet that has always been Costa’s goal: keeping EU summits down to just one day. While most leaders were already assuming a second day — or even going into the weekend — Costa got it wrapped up. He never fully committed to any single option (contrary to his counterpart at the Berlaymont), floated above the fray, and still got a deal. Everyone involved in the war As strange as it sounds — since war, and this one in particular, produces no real winners — every major actor involved in the Ukraine war walked away with something. Volodymyr Zelenskyy got the money he needed, which is what mattered most. Europe delivered on its promise to support Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s frozen assets won’t be used against him. And Donald Trump still has the option of using those assets as leverage in a future peace deal. LOSERS Friedrich Merz It’s hard to recall a more unsuccessful EU summit for a German chancellor. Within hours, Merz suffered two major defeats: the postponement of the Mercosur deal and, more decisively, the torpedoing of the frozen-assets plan that he had aggressively pushed. For weeks, Germany and its Nordic allies had insisted that frozen assets were the only game in town, arguing that joint debt was impossible due to it needing unanimity requirements and Hungary’s veto. The outcome proved otherwise: joint debt and three countries opting out. A reminder that in Brussels, impossible often just means there’s not yet any political will. Merz put his neck on the line, traveling to Brussels to help Ursula von der Leyen lobby De Wever, as well as writing several op-eds on how good it would be to use frozen assets. The fact that reparation loans haven’t been formally ruled out — technical work will continue — is cold comfort. Ursula von der Leyen The Commission president went down alongside Merz in the effort to keep joint borrowing off the table, even though her own team had prepared alternative options. She eventually opened the door to joint debt in a speech in Strasbourg on Wednesday — but it was far too late to claim credit for the deal that was eventually struck. By then, the momentum had already shifted, and others were steering the outcome. Mette Frederiksen (and the Nordics) Denmark’s prime minister stayed largely out of what was framed as a German-led fight, but Frederiksen, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU — and the broader Nordic bloc — quietly backed the “only game in town” narrative. What resurfaced was a familiar fault line: frugals versus joint debt, this time refracted through a dispute over how to use frozen Russian assets. In the end, one camp clearly prevailed. Leaders agreed to move toward joint borrowing to cover Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years, sidelining alternative schemes that had dominated the debate for weeks. Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia The trio secured a short-term — and largely financial — win by avoiding direct obligations to send money to Ukraine. But the victory may prove costly. The money will flow regardless — and a move like this pushes them closer to pariah status inside the EU. Will there be repercussions from the rest of the EU? Time will tell.

BRUSSELS — Prime Minister Bart De Wever was praised in Belgium on Friday for fending off an EU plan to use Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine. De Wever had pushed back against the proposal for months and never gave ground, forcing EU leaders to pivot to an emergency backup plan based on EU joint debt, something that Belgian politicians from across the spectrum welcomed. “Great work, Bart,” said Belgium’s Defense Minister Theo Francken, who’s from the same party, the Flemish nationalist N-VA, as De Wever. “[You’ve] taught the EU a democratic lesson. It was about time.” “Against the tide and almost completely isolated, he defended our interests against the most powerful players in Europe,” said Valerie Van Peel, president of the N-VA. “Good result for Ukraine and Belgium, good work from BDW,” said Frédéric De Gucht, president of the Flemish liberal Open VLD, an opposition party. “A solidarity Europe against a Russian aggressor.” Several Belgian members of the European Parliament also backed the summit’s outcome. “It’s good that we’re not going on thin ice with the frozen assets, but that we’re going back to the proven method of joint debt,” said Flemish Christian Democrat Wouter Beke. “Belgium has succeeded in making its voice heard,” said Yvan Verougstraete, who’s both a member of the European Parliament and president of the Walloon Centrist Les Engagés (the Committed Ones) party.

BRUSSELS — Just as Poland secured a coveted place among the G20 group of leading economies, liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk is arguing with nationalist President Karol Nawrocki over who gets to represent Warsaw at the top table. Poland is one of Europe’s fastest growing economies and has NATO’s third-biggest military, but its diplomatic heft is being undermined by the clash between Tusk’s pro-EU camp and Nawrocki’s conservatives over who gets to speak for Warsaw on the global stage. In their game of constitutional brinkmanship, Nawrocki’s presidential office is now moving to take control of preparations for Poland’s participation in next year’s G20 summit. That drew a sharp public rebuke from Tusk. “I will not allow the presidential palace to violate the constitution,” the prime minister said Thursday on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels. The problem for Tusk is that U.S. President Donald Trump sees Nawrocki as an ideological ally, and it is Trump who will host the G20 summit at a golf resort he owns in Miami. Nawrocki scored a White House invitation in September and then managed to speak directly to Trump when Russian drones swarmed over Poland days later. Trump’s administration made space for Poland by excluding regular G20 stalwart South Africa, but the opening quickly became a political battleground in Warsaw. Tusk’s government proposed a joint approach, naming two “sherpas” to coordinate preparations: one from the cabinet and one from the presidential palace. Nawrocki’s team headed straight to Washington to object, however, according to people familiar with the discussions. U.S. officials subsequently signaled they would deal only with the president’s envoy, Marcin Przydacz, who went on to present himself in Washington as Poland’s sole interlocutor for the summit. Tusk did not block the trip and confirmed that Przydacz had received government briefing materials. But he warned that cooperation did not amount to consent, accusing the president’s camp of trying to shift authority “by force of facts, subterfuge and intrigue.” “That is simply unacceptable and contrary to Poland’s interests,” he said. Nawrocki’s office rejected Tusk’s version of events. The president’s spokesperson, Rafał Leśkiewicz, called the comments about violating the constitution a “perfidious manipulation,” arguing there was no constitutional drama to the episode. Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk is arguing with nationalist President Karol Nawrocki over who gets to represent Warsaw at the top table. | Beata Zawrzel/Getty Images “Those words in no way reflect the truth,” he said. Leśkiewicz said the White House dealt with Nawrocki and his people because it “fully understands” that the Polish president is the country’s highest representative internationally, while the government’s role is to execute agreed positions. “We would very much like Poland to speak with one voice,” Leśkiewicz said, accusing Tusk of turning what he described as routine coordination into an international quarrel and of struggling to accept the outcome of this year’s presidential election won by Nawrocki. Similar clashes over who represents Poland are looming on the even more critical question of Ukraine. Warsaw is fuming it has been left out of crucial peace talks, but the internal rifts between Tusk and Nawrocki are unlikely to have tempted an invite to negotiations. As Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski put it recently, Poland can resemble “a car with two steering wheels” — perfectly drivable, but only as long as both drivers agree where they’re going.

BERLIN — A high-ranking German lawmaker belonging to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc issued a simple warning to countries holding up the EU-Mercosur trade agreement: Without such deals, Germany won’t be able to pay more into EU coffers. “Germany is an export nation, from which, incidentally, all other EU countries also benefit,” Sepp Müller, deputy chairman of Merz’s conservative parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said on Wednesday when asked about the leverage Germany has in ongoing negotiations over the trade deal with the Latin American bloc. “If Germany does not return to being a strong export nation, then we will not be able, economically and financially, to bear any further additional burdens for an increasing multi-year financial framework,” he added, referring to the European Commission’s €2 trillion 2028-2034 budget proposal that is now under discussion. “Now Europe must decide: Does it want to put the German economy back on the path to growth and thus support and grow the largest net contributor to the European coffers?” he said. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking in the German Bundestag ahead of an EU summit, exhibited frustration over persisting disagreements that are holding up the Mercosur trade agreement. The agreement, in the works for over 25 years, is within sight of the finish line, but France and Italy are calling for a delay to finalize additional safeguards to protect European farmers from heightened South American competition. Only if they come round will European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen be able to fly to Brazil on Saturday, the day after the EU summit, to sign the deal. “The European Union’s ability to act is also measured by whether, after 26 years of negotiations, we are finally in a position to conclude this trade agreement and thus also to swiftly move forward with the trade agreements negotiated in Mexico and Indonesia,” Merz said. “If in the situation we find ourselves in today, in the times we live in today, we are still haggling over the details of major trade agreements that we as Europeans want to conclude with large economic areas around the world, then those who are doing so still do not properly understand the priorities we are setting now.” Asked about Müller’s comments, the chancellor’s spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, said: “The government’s policy is to implement Mercosur. The budget is a different matter. A budget only works if we have growth.” Germany contributes around €47 billion to the EU budget annually, corresponding to around 23.6 percent of its funding and over 1 percent of Germany’s gross domestic product. If Germany maintains roughly its current share of the budget, its annual contribution would rise to around €67.3 billion in the next fiscal cycle. Hans von der Burchard contributed to this report.

In one of the most high-pressure summits in years, EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday to discuss whether to grant Ukraine access to frozen Russian assets to bankroll its war effort. Belgium, where most of those assets are held, says no. The stakes couldn’t be higher, so stay with POLITICO for all the latest news and analysis. Scroll down for more…