Nawrocki

Nationalist populist Karol Nawrocki will be Poland’s next president after a tight election race. His victory marks a significant boost for the populist tide in Europe and around the globe.

Electoral Commission results on Monday showed that Nawrocki, backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, won 50.89 percent of the vote. His rival, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, received 49.11 percent in Sunday’s run-off.

The close result is being viewed as an illustration of the deep divide in Polish society between conservative forces, often linked to the powerful Catholic Church, and liberals, largely based in major cities.

Although the government holds the majority of power in Poland, Nawrocki is expected to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Andrzej Duda from PiS in using the president’s veto power to block Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s agenda.

Tusk’s centrist coalition government has pledged to reform the judicial system, which PiS revamped during eight years in power that came to an end in 2023. PiS’s changes caused a bitter fight with the European Union, which said they politicised the judiciary and were undemocratic.

The government has also struggled to ease restrictions on abortion and institute LGBTQ rights due to Duda’s resistance.

Nawrocki has pledged to protect Poland’s sovereignty from what he calls excessive interference from Brussels while he also has been critical of Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU and NATO.

Although he remains supportive of Kyiv in its war against Russia, Nawrocki has also promised to put the interests of Poles above the large number of Ukrainian refugees that the country has taken in.

Therefore, his victory could complicate Warsaw’s relations with the EU and impact its support for Ukrainian refugees.

United States President Donald Trump gave Nawrocki his blessing before the election, and right-wing forces in Europe, who were disappointed by the defeat of nationalist George Simion in Romania’s presidential election last month, have been quick to celebrate.

Here is how the world reacted to his victory:

Poland

Trzaskowski conceded defeat and congratulated Nawrocki on his win but also cautioned him to represent all Poles. “This win is an obligation, especially in such difficult times. Especially with a close result. Don’t forget that,” Trzaskowski said on X.

Slawomir Mentzen, leader of the far-right Confederation party, who came third in the May 18 first round of the election, told Nawrocki: “I am really counting on you not forgetting those millions of voters who did not vote for you in the first round but did yesterday. These people wanted change.”

“The referendum on the dismissal of the Tusk government has been won,” PiS lawmaker Jacek Sasin wrote on X.

European Union

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sent her congratulations, saying she is “confident” that “very good cooperation” with Warsaw would continue.

“We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home,” she said on X.

Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he looks forward to “fruitful cooperation” with Poland.

“By reinforcing one another on our continent, we give greater strength to Europe in global competition and bring the achievement of real and lasting peace closer,” Zelenskyy said.

Germany

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier congratulated Nawrocki and urged Poland to “cooperate closely based on democracy and rule of law”, stating that the two neighbours must cooperate to “ensure a future of security, freedom and prosperity for Europe”.

NATO

Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he was looking forward to working with Nawrocki on “making sure that with Poland, NATO becomes even stronger than it is today”.

France

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen welcomed the result of the election, branding it as “a rebuff to the Brussels oligarchy, which intends to impose a standardisation of legislation on member states, contrary to any democratic will”, and the European Commission’s “authoritarian policies and federalist ambitions [that] are brutalising national sovereignty”.

Hungary

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who seeks to make himself a figurehead for Europe’s nationalist populist forces, congratulated Nawrocki on his “fantastic victory”. Orban added that he is “looking forward to working with [Nawrocki] on strengthening Visegrad cooperation”, a reference to the four-nation Visegrad Group, in which the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also members.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called Nawrocki’s success a “fresh victory for [European] patriots”.

Romania

“Poland WON,” Simion, whose failure to win the Romanian presidency disappointed nationalist and eurosceptic forces, wrote on X.

June 2 (UPI) — Karol Nawrocki, a populist conservative backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has won Poland’s presidential runoff election, according to official results released Monday.

Eyes across the country, Europe and even North America were watching the race in Poland, where the presidency is a somewhat symbolic position — especially compared to the prime minister and their executive powers — but one that does come with veto authority.

The election of Nawrocki also suggests a political shift in the deeply divided nation.

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Kazimierz Trzaskowski — of Prime Minister Donald Tusk‘s Civic Platform party — had narrowly beaten Nawrocki, a conservative historian who ran as an independent, in the first round of voting on May 18, but failed to gain a majority of the votes to win the presidency outright.

In Sunday’s runoff, the roles were reversed, and it was Nawrocki who secured the narrow victory. According to official results, Nawrocki, 42, won 50.89% of the vote. Trzaskowski, 53, received 49.11%.

Of the 20.8 million cast votes — representing 71.6% of Poland’s population — nearly 37,000 votes separated the two candidates.

Nawrocki was backed by the nationalist opposition Law and Justice party.

This is a developing story.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Final vote count gives conservative candidate 50.89 percent, while his liberal rival receives 49.11 percent, AP reports.

Conservative eurosceptic Karol Nawrocki is expected to win Poland’s presidential run-off election with all votes now counted, according to media reports.

The Associated Press news agency, citing the final vote count, reported on Monday that Nawrocki won 50.89 percent of votes in the tight race against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11 percent.

The Polish news website, Onet, reported the same results on its website.

The Polish Electoral Commission said on its website that it had counted all of the votes. The commission had said earlier that official results would be out on Monday morning.

Nawrocki, 42, a historian and amateur boxer who ran a national remembrance institute, campaigned on a promise to ensure economic and social policies favour Poles over other nationalities, including refugees from neighbouring Ukraine.

While Poland’s parliament holds most power, the president can veto legislation, and the vote was being watched closely in Ukraine as well as Russia, the United States and across the European Union.