You can call me a Negative Nancy, but I'm still sceptical. I'm not going to buy the whole "picked because respected" thing. If EU leaders wanted a strong political personality to run the Council, they would have went with a tested statesman in 2009, like Juncker, instead of reaching to the second tier (while Van Rumpoy did very well, he wasn't really a prime candidate back then).
I think this selection is about message: giving a post to someone from the "New Europe", as well as sending a strong signal to Russia by picking a Pole. If it hadn't been Tusk, it would be someone else from the border countries.
While I understated Van Rumpoy's role, I'm not optimistic whether Tusk is up for the task. During his tenure he was nothing put a political machine operator, lacking vision or creativity, interested only in staying in power and guillotining potential rivals. If a Pole had to be selected, Sikorski would be far better choice, for example.
Going back to Russia, EU sanctions won't get any harsher not milder because of who was picked to chair the Council.
So perfect for the job then.
