Warsaw, Poland — Conservative Karol Nawrocki received Poland’s weekend presidential runoff election, in response to the ultimate vote depend on Monday. Nawrocki received 50.89% of votes in a really tight race towards liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who obtained 49.11%.
The race had Poland on edge since a primary spherical of voting two weeks earlier, revealing deep divisions within the nation alongside the japanese flank of NATO and the European Union.
An early exit ballot launched Sunday night instructed Trzaskowski was headed to victory earlier than up to date polling started to reverse the image a few hours later.
Karol Nawrocki, presidential candidate of the Legislation and Justice Celebration , gestures to supporters in Warsaw following the Polish presidential runoff election on June 01, 2025.
Sean Gallup / Getty Pictures
The end result suggests Poland might be anticipated to take a extra populist and nationalist path underneath its new chief, who was backed by President Trump.
EU Fee President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Nawrocki. In a submit on X, she mentioned she’s “confident that the EU will continue its very good cooperation with Poland.”
Most day-to-day energy within the Polish political system rests with a major minister, who’s chosen by the parliament. Nonetheless, the president’s function shouldn’t be merely ceremonial. The workplace holds the ability to affect overseas coverage and veto laws.
Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and remaining time period ends on Aug. 6.
Below the Polish structure, the president serves a five-year time period and could also be re-elected as soon as.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk got here to energy in late 2023 with a coalition authorities that spans a broad ideological divide – so broad that it hasn’t been capable of fulfill sure of Tusk’s electoral guarantees, reminiscent of loosening the restrictive abortion regulation or passing a civil partnership regulation for same-sex {couples}.
However Duda’s veto energy has been one other impediment. It has prevented Tusk from fulfilling guarantees to reverse legal guidelines that politicized the courtroom system in a method that the European Union declared undemocratic.
Now it seems Tusk may have no method to fulfill these guarantees, which he made each to voters and the EU.
Some observers in Poland have mentioned the unfulfilled guarantees may make it harder for Tusk to proceed his time period till the subsequent parliamentary election scheduled for late 2027, notably if Legislation and Justice dangles the prospect of future cooperation with conservatives in his coalition.
Incoming president’s background
Nawrocki, a 42-year-old newbie boxer and historian, was tapped by the Legislation and Justice occasion as a part of its push for a recent begin.
The occasion ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it misplaced energy to a centrist coalition led by Tusk. Some political observers predicted the occasion would by no means make a comeback, and Nawrocki was chosen as a brand new face who wouldn’t be burned by the scandals of the occasion’s eight years of rule.
The technique clearly labored.
Nawrocki has most lately been the top of the Institute of Nationwide Remembrance, which embraces nationalist historic narratives. He led efforts to topple monuments to the Soviet Crimson Military in Poland, and Russia responded by placing him on a needed record, in response to Polish media reviews.
Nawrocki’s supporters describe him because the embodiment of conventional, patriotic values. Those that oppose secular developments, together with LGBTQ+ visibility, have embraced him, viewing him as a mirrored image of the values they grew up with.
Nawrocki’s candidacy was clouded by allegations of previous connections to prison figures and his participation in a violent avenue brawl. He denies the prison hyperlinks however was unapologetic in regards to the avenue battle, saying he had taken half in “noble” fights in his life. The revelations didn’t appear to harm his assist amongst right-wing voters, lots of whom see the allegations as politically motivated.
Nawrocki endorsed by Trump
Mr. Trump made it clear he needed Nawrocki as Poland’s president.
He welcomed Nawrocki to the White Home a month in the past. And final week, the conservative group CPAC held its first assembly in Poland to present Nawrocki a lift. Kristi Noem, the U.S. Homeland Safety Secretary and a distinguished Trump ally, strongly praised Nawrocki and urged Poles to vote for him.
The U.S. has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Noem instructed that navy ties may deepen with Nawrocki as president.
A typical chorus from Nawrocki’s supporters is that he’ll restore “normality,” as they consider Mr. Trump has finished. U.S. flags typically appeared at Nawrocki’s rallies, and his supporters believed he supplied a greater probability for good ties with the Trump administration.
Nawrocki has additionally echoed a few of Mr. Trump’s language on Ukraine. He guarantees to proceed Poland’s assist for Ukraine however has been vital of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of making the most of allies. He has accused Ukrainian refugees of making the most of Polish generosity, vowing to prioritize Poles for social companies reminiscent of well being care and education.
