Kopacz nominated for PM of Poland

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I think the Tusk/Mogherini tandem is a good choice. Thorning-Schmidt was probably too "blond" for the job, especially now that it is clear that the EU will need some "toughness" against Russia. Tusk is dedicated and the fact that he will spend the next months until his inauguration to work on his English is a good sign. Mogherini is less experienced but already has a great CV, I think she will do a good job while remaining somehow under Tusk supervision.

Somehow it seems like Juncker and the European leaders are managing to build a team that satisfies everyone. That was not easy. Central and European countries are happy thanks to Tusk. Italy is satisfied. The internal market position should go the UK, and that's what they have been asking for. Spain and Germany are happy because Luis de Guindos will be the next president of the Eurogroup. France will probably get the Economy and Monetary affairs position under the condition that the Finnish candidate gets an important economic position too.
It looked like an impossible task at the beginning but it seems that Juncker did it.

Several other comments:
-Mogherini is the first top European politician to come from the "Erasmus generation". This generation is the first to really "feel European" and I am very enthusiastic about them getting more power in the future.
-We will hear a lot of Italian voices in Europe. Draghi, Mogherini, Renzi... Italian influence is definitely growing.
-This will go unnoticed in countries like France, but it is worth noting that Tusk is resigning from a PM job to get a EU post. He is not the only one (Finnish PM did the same, and he is now set to get an important position) and many countries are now sending their best politicians for EU jobs, and the EU top administration is filled with more and more very competent people. For many, EU jobs are now seen as a promotion compared to national positions, and France should stop sending the local "loser" who happen to be unemployed at that time (like Moscovici), and should think about sending its top "players" if it wants its voice to remain heard.

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Well I think she's known for three things outside of Denmark: first her famous selfie, then her "Gucci" nickname and lastly her "Hi, I am the prime minister of Denmark". So in the current context where half of Europe wants to act more tough against Russia, her lightness was an important handicap compared to someone with a statesman image like Tusk. She suffered from the dumb blonde stereotype.

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Do you honestly think the choice of EU president will bother the Russians at all? I suspect they couldn't care less, and policy-wise it makes no difference for them at all (of course).

Do Putin cares about anyone else than himself? If yes, Tusk will be somehow coordinating the EU sanctions against Russia, so he will be relevant.

Like ingemann and ag said, being new the top EU posts are very open in what are the associated duties and tasks, so it depends a lot on the personality of the person in charge. No one can really expect Tusk to behave like Van Rompuy.

There is also this time a clear difference in personality between the President of the European Council (Tusk) and the President of the European Commission (Juncker). They are not the same type of person at all and they may durably shape the distribution of tasks in the EU (until know, the "who does what?" question has been a big issue).

Note that the mandate is only 2.5 years long. It leaves room for someone else (we all know who I mean) to take the job in 2017.

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How to make almost everyone happy: