--- description: Find out why Donald Tusk is one of the 100 most influential people of 2024. title: Donald Tusk: The 100 Most Influential People of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ed10342622445a3/698a558fdb2987b26526b8ad/time-100-2024-donald-tusk.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 17, 2024 # Donald Tusk by Ursula von der Leyen  Former PM Donald Tusk is seen at the Sejm, the Polish parliament on 26 May, 2023\. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has voted through legislation to form a commission that will have to power to investigate alleged Russian influence in previous administrations and punish those deemed to have acted in Russia's interests, including by banning them from office. The bill will first pass President Andrzej Duda for approval and has been criticised by opposition parties and experts, who argue that its real purpose is to help the ruling party win this year's elections or, if they lose, to hinder the work of a new government afterwards. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Former PM Donald Tusk is seen at the Sejm, the Polish parliament on 26 May, 2023\. The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has voted through legislation to form a commission that will have to power to investigate alleged Russian influence in previous administrations and punish those deemed to have acted in Russia's interests, including by banning them from office. The bill will first pass President Andrzej Duda for approval and has been criticised by opposition parties and experts, who argue that its real purpose is to help the ruling party win this year's elections or, if they lose, to hinder the work of a new government afterwards. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Jaap Arriens—NurPhoto/Getty Images Donald Tusk has answered two questions that could not be more topical: How can we beat populists? How can we stop the erosion of democracy and the rule of law? As a young student, he became an activist in the underground Solidarnosc social movement. When the Iron Curtain collapsed, he became one of the first leaders of the young Polish democracy. Throughout his public service—as a party founder, as Prime Minister, and then as President of the European Council—Tusk has never stopped believing in the supremacy of democracy. After former fellow campaigners against the communist regime in Poland took over the country’s government in 2015 and began to undermine the rule of law and Poland’s ties with the European Union, he took on the challenge. In 2021, he once again became the leader of the party he had founded in 2001—and in 2023, [he won back the government](https://time.com/6325783/polands-election-eu-donald-tusk-essay/ "undefined") of his home country in a fair and democratic contest. Donald Tusk is a political marathon runner. He has taught us all that it is never too late and worth every effort to stand up for our democracy. _Von der Leyen is the European Commission President_ _Order your copy of the 2024 TIME100 issue_ [_here_](https://magazineshop.us/TIME%5F100 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/"},"headline":"Donald Tusk","datePublished":"2024-04-17T11:07:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:29:24.456Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/","keywords":["TIME100","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","2024TIME100","T100Leaders2024"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ed10342622445a3/698a558fdb2987b26526b8ad/time-100-2024-donald-tusk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ed10342622445a3/698a558fdb2987b26526b8ad/time-100-2024-donald-tusk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/","name":"Donald Tusk"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See Everyone on the TIME100 2024 list","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/73p9kgIN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-04-17T11:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/73p9kgIN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965195/donald-tusk/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```