Tusk new president of European Council | NYTimes.com

From ANDREW HIGGINS and NEIL MacFARQUHARAUG:

Capping weeks of haggling among capitals and rival political groups, leaders on Saturday evening named Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland to replace Herman Van Rompuy as the president of the European Council, which sets the agenda for summits and helps represent the union at international gatherings. He is the first Eastern European selected for such a senior position, and his appointment, at a time of growing tensions with Russia, emphasized the growing clout of new members that, having shaken off decades of subservience to Moscow, generally favor a more robust approach to Russia than the union’s older members in the West.

Read more at Ukraine President Says Europe’s Security Depends on Stopping Russia – NYTimes.com.