Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
The close race had the country on edge since a first-round two weeks earlier.
Conservative Karol Nawrocki has won Poland’s weekend presidential runoff election, according to the final vote count.
Mr Nawrocki won 50.89% of the votes in a very tight race against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%.
The close race had the country on edge since a first-round two weeks earlier and through the night into Monday, revealing deep divisions in the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.
An early exit poll released on Sunday evening suggested Mr Trzaskowski was headed to victory before updated polling began to reverse the picture hours later.
The outcome indicates that Poland can be expected to take a more nationalist path under its new leader, who was backed by US President Donald Trump.
Most 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 policy and to veto legislation.
Nawrocki will succeed Andrzej Duda, a conservative whose second and final term ends on August 6.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk came to power in late 2023 at the end of a coalition government that spans a broad ideological divide — so broad that it hasn’t been able to fulfil certain of Mr Tusk’s electoral promises, such as loosening the restrictive abortion law.
But Mr Duda’s veto power has been another obstacle.
It has prevented Mr Tusk from fulfilling promises to reverse laws that politicised the court system in a way that the European Union declared to be undemocratic.
Now it appears Mr Tusk will have no way to fulfil those promises, which he had made both to voters and to the EU.
Mr Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, was tapped by the Law and Justice party as part of its push for a fresh start.
The party governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, when it lost power to a centrist coalition led by Mr Tusk.
Some political observers predicted the party would never make a comeback, and Mr Nawrocki was chosen as a new face who would not be burned by the scandals of the party’s eight years of rule.
Mr 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 traditional values they grew up with.
Mr Trump made it clear he wanted Mr Nawrocki as Poland’s president.
The conservative group Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) held its first meeting in Poland last week to give Mr Nawrocki a boost.
Kristi Noem, the US Homeland Security secretary and a prominent ally of Mr Trump, strongly praised Mr Nawrocki and urged Poles to vote for him.
The US has about 10,000 troops stationed in Poland and Ms Noem suggested that military ties could deepen with Mr Nawrocki as president.
A common refrain from Mr Nawrocki’s supporters is that he will restore “normality,” as they believe Mr Trump has done.
US flags often appeared at Mr Nawrocki’s rallies, and his supporters believed that he offered a better chance for good ties with the Trump administration.
