Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election

WARSAW Poland AP Conservative Karol Nawrocki won Poland s weekend presidential runoff referendum according to the final vote count on Monday Nawrocki won of votes in a very tight race against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafa Trzaskowski who received The race had Poland on edge since a first round of voting two weeks earlier revealing deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union An early exit poll circulated Sunday evening suggested Trzaskowski was headed to success before updated polling began to reverse the picture a couple of hours later The outcome suggests that Poland can be expected to take a more populist and nationalist path under its new leader who was backed by U S President Donald Trump Congratulations from different corners Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the leaders offering their congratulations to Nawrocki on Monday morning an acknowledgment of Poland s key role as a neighbor ally and hub for Western weapons sent to Kyiv He called Poland a pillar of regional and European defense and mentioned 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 I look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with Poland and with President Nawrocki personally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who shares Nawrocki s national conservative worldview hailed Nawrocki s fantastic achievement Meanwhile European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered measured congratulations emphasizing continued EU-Poland collaboration rooted in shared democratic values We are all stronger together in our region of peace democracy and values So let us work to ensure the measure and prosperity of our common home The role of a president in Poland Most of day-to-day power in the Polish political system rests with a prime minister chosen by the parliament However the president s role is not merely ceremonial The office holds the power to influence foreign agenda and veto ordinance Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda a conservative whose second and final term ends on Aug Under the Polish constitution the president serves a five-year term and may be re-elected once A headache for Tusk Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in late with a coalition cabinet that spans a broad ideological divide so broad that it hasn t been able to fulfill certain of Tusk s electoral promises such as loosening the restrictive abortion law or passing a civil partnership law for same-sex couples But Duda s veto power has been another obstacle It has prevented Tusk from fulfilling promises to reverse laws that politicized the court system in a way that the European Union declared to be undemocratic Now it appears Tusk will have no way to fulfill those promises which he made both to voters and the EU Various observers in Poland have disclosed the unfulfilled promises could make it more arduous for Tusk to continue his term until the next parliamentary balloting scheduled for late particularly if Law and Justice dangles the prospect of future cooperation with conservatives in his coalition A former boxer historian and political novice Nawrocki a -year-old amateur boxer and historian was tapped by the Law and Justice party as part of its push for a fresh start The party governed Poland from to when it lost power to a centrist coalition led by Tusk Particular political observers predicted the party would never make a comeback and Nawrocki was chosen as a new face who would not be burned by the scandals of the party s eight years of rule The strategy clearly worked Nawrocki has the greater part in recent days been the head of the Institute of National Remembrance which embraces nationalist historical narratives He led efforts to topple monuments to the Soviet Red Army in Poland and Russia responded by putting him on a needed list according to Polish media reports Nawrocki s supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional patriotic values Those who oppose secular trends including LGBTQ visibility have embraced him viewing him as a reflection of the values they grew up with Nawrocki s candidacy was clouded by statements of past connections to criminal figures and his participation in a violent street brawl He denies the criminal links but was unapologetic about the street fight saying he had taken part in noble fights in his life The revelations did not seem to hurt his backing among right-wing voters plenty of of whom see the statements as politically motivated The Trump factor Trump made it clear he sought Nawrocki as Poland s president He welcomed Nawrocki to the White House a month ago And last week the conservative group CPAC held its first meeting in Poland to give Nawrocki a boost Kristi Noem the U S Homeland Prevention Secretary and a prominent Trump ally strongly praised Nawrocki and urged Poles to vote for him The U S has about troops stationed in Poland and Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Nawrocki as president A common refrain from Nawrocki s supporters is that he will restore normality as they believe Trump has done U S flags often appeared at Nawrocki s rallies and his supporters maintained that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration Nawrocki has also echoed various of Trump s language on Ukraine He promises to continue Poland s encouragement for Ukraine but has been critical of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing him of taking advantage of allies He has accused Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of Polish generosity vowing to prioritize Poles for social services such as wellbeing care and schooling Source