Tusk says Poland will work on strengthening relations with US

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday Poland would work on strengthening its relations with the United States following Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.

Tusk was speaking to reporters before leaving for an EU summit in Budapest over Thursday and Friday at which Trump's return to power and the collapse of Germany's ruling coalition will be major talking points.

He said one of the main messages for the meeting will be the need to strengthen transatlantic relations regardless of who leads particular countries.

"With President Trump we will work on strengthening Polish-U.S. relations," Tusk said.

"If we expect certain changes or turbulence in geopolitics and the international situation, then both Europe and Poland should effectively take care of the best possible transatlantic relations," he said.

Just before Tuesday's U.S. election, Tusk wrote on X that whatever the outcome of the vote, "the era of geopolitical outsourcing is over".

Trump's victory has raised questions about what his policy on the war in Ukraine will be and how he will deal with the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, of which Poland is a member. In his previous term in office, Trump criticised NATO and said the United States shoulders too much of the burden and European countries should contribute more.

He has also promised to swiftly end the war in Ukraine, though he has not explained exactly how he would do that.