BRUSSELS, August 30 /ITAR-TASS/. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday was elected the new president of the European Council, its outgoing President Herman Van Rompuy said on Twitter. Tuskwill officially take office in November.

The European Union should be brave but reasonable in its actions on the Ukraine crisis, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the newly appointed president of the European Council, said in Brussels on Saturday.

The dramatic events in Europe, he said, require from all EU countries to hold a common stance.

“The most important thing is to understand who we are and how we can reply,” Tusk said adding Europe would be able to help Ukraine only if took a common approach.

Tusk believes that challenges facing the European Union will not disappear before year’s end. “The attitude to crises like Iraq, Ukraine and the European economic crisis determine who we (Europeans) are,” the newly elected European Council president said.

Tusk confirmed his plans to hold unscheduled summits of the euro zone on macroeconomic situation as well as an EU summit on reviving growth and improving the employment situation in Europe.

“I believe that today there is no alternative to the European Union,” Tusk stressed.