Tusk jokes 'no Russians in the room' at EU summit as Orbán's ouster shifts bloc dynamics

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters there is "huge relief" among leaders at Friday's EU summit in Cyprus because, "for the first time in years, there are no Russians in the room" — before winking at journalists as his Kremlin-friendly Slovak counterpart Robert Fico strolled past. "No, no, it's a joke," Tusk quickly added. Fico has been one of the bloc's most vocal dissenters on Ukraine policy — second only to the obstructionist outgoing Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán, whose election defeat last week increased the isolation of the Slovak premier at the European Council table. Diplomats and officials have described a "totally new mood" in EU meetings since Orbán's ouster, with long-frozen dossiers on sanctions, enlargement and Ukraine aid now expected to move forward. Tusk also said he was "a little bit skeptical" about the prospect of negotiating with Russia to end the war in Ukraine and called on the EU to be "as tough as possible" in penalties against Moscow. The bloc's long-delayed 20th round of sanctions against Moscow entered force the day before, after Budapest and Bratislava dropped their vetoes. The Polish leader then struck an optimistic note, hailing conservative Péter Magyar's election victory in Hungary as proof that "democrats are not losers." He pointed to results in similar outcomes in Warsaw, Bucharest, Chișinău and Budapest as evidence "there is a future for Europe, for democracy, for rule of law." He later posted the "no Russians in the room" line on X (with no mention of Fico).