Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s right-wing opposition candidate, narrowly won the second spherical of voting within the nation’s presidential election on Sunday, in keeping with the Nationwide Electoral Fee (NEC).
Right here is all you must know concerning the outcomes:
Who received the presidential election in Poland?
Nawrocki received with 50.89 p.c of the votes, the NEC web site up to date early on Monday.
He defeated liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who secured 49.11 p.c of the vote.
The end result was a shock as a result of exit polls had projected a slender loss for Nawrocki.
What occurred within the first spherical of the election?
The first round passed off on Could 18, the place, as anticipated, not one of the 13 presidential candidates may handle to succeed in a 50 p.c threshold.
Trzaskowski received 31.4 p.c of the vote, whereas Nawrocki received 29.5 p.c. As the highest two candidates, Nawrocki and Trzaskowski proceeded to the run-off.
Who’s Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s new president?
Nawrocki, 42, is a conservative historian and newbie boxer.
He contested as an impartial candidate, backed by the outgoing president, Andrzej Duda’s Regulation and Justice (PiS), Poland’s important opposition get together.
The newly elected president’s educational work, as a historian, centred on anti-communist resistance. For the time being, he runs the Institute of Nationwide Remembrance, a Warsaw-based government-funded analysis institute that research the historical past of Poland throughout World Conflict II and the interval of communism till 1990.
On the institute, Nawrocki has eliminated Soviet memorials, upsetting Russia.
He administered the Museum of the Second World Conflict within the Polish metropolis of Gdansk from 2017 to 2021.
Nawrocki has had his share of controversies. In 2018, he printed a e-book a few infamous gangster beneath the pseudonym “Tadeusz Batyr”. In public feedback, Nawrocki and Batyr praised one another, with out revealing they had been the identical particular person.
United States President Donald Trump’s administration threw its weight behind Nawrocki within the Polish election. The US group Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) held its first assembly in Poland on Could 27. “We’d like you to elect the fitting chief,” US Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem mentioned in the course of the CPAC occasion.
Calling Trzaskowski “an absolute prepare wreck of a pacesetter”, Noem mentioned, “I simply had the chance to fulfill with Karol and hear: he must be the subsequent president of Poland. Do you perceive me?”
How did Nawrocki win?
Specialists say the consistency of Nawrocki’s messaging on the marketing campaign path could have earned him his win.
“Folks select somebody they see as robust, clear, and constant,” Liliana Smiech, chairwoman of the Basis Council at Warsaw Institute, a Polish nonprofit suppose tank specialising in geopolitics and worldwide affairs, advised Al Jazeera.
“Even with the accusations in opposition to him, voters most well-liked his firmness over Trzaskowski’s fixed rebranding. Trzaskowski tried to be all the pieces to everybody and ended up convincing nobody. Nawrocki seems like somebody who can deal with strain. He turned the president for tough occasions.”
Not like Trzaskowski, Smiech mentioned, Nawrocki “didn’t attempt to please everybody”.
But he managed to please sufficient voters to win.
What’s the significance of Nawrocki’s win?
A lot of the energy in Poland rests within the fingers of the prime minister. The incumbent, Donald Tusk, leads a centre-right coalition authorities, and Trzaskowski was the ruling alliance’s candidate.
Nawrocki has been deeply essential of the Tusk administration. The president has the flexibility to veto laws and affect army and overseas coverage selections.
On the marketing campaign path, Nawrocki promised to decrease taxes and pull Poland out of the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum, an settlement on new guidelines for managing migration and setting a standard asylum system; and the European Inexperienced Deal, which units benchmarks for environmental safety for the EU, comparable to the whole cessation of web emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Like different candidates, together with Trzaskowski, Nawrocki known as for Poland to spend as much as 5 p.c of its gross home product (GDP) on defence. Poland spent 3.8 p.c of its GDP on army expenditure in 2023, in keeping with World Financial institution knowledge.
“Some anticipated a wave of assist for the left or liberal aspect, particularly amongst younger folks. That didn’t occur. Nawrocki received within the 18-39 age group,” Smiech mentioned.
“It’s a transparent message: folks nonetheless care about sovereignty, custom, and powerful management. Even youthful voters aren’t shopping for into the thought of a ‘new progressive Poland’.”
What had been the important thing points within the Polish election?
The Russia-Ukraine struggle, which started in February 2022, is a regarding difficulty for the Poles, who’re frightened of a spillover of Russian aggression to Poland resulting from its proximity to Ukraine.
Whereas Poland initially threw its full assist behind Ukraine, tensions have grown between Poland and Ukraine.
Nawrocki is opposed to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO and the EU.
But, on the similar time, Poland and Nawrocki stay deeply suspicious of Russia.
On Could 12, the Polish Ministry of International Affairs said an investigation had revealed that Russian intelligence businesses had orchestrated a large fireplace at a procuring centre in Warsaw in Could 2024. Because of this a number of candidates on this election proposed elevating the defence finances to five p.c of the GDP.
Abortion is a key difficulty in Poland, which has a number of the strictest abortion laws in Europe. In August 2024, Prime Minister Tusk acknowledged that he didn’t have sufficient backing from parliament to ship on one in every of his key marketing campaign guarantees and alter the abortion regulation. PiS, which backed Nawrocki, is against any legalisation of abortion.
Different points included financial considerations about taxes, housing prices and the state of public transport.
What’s subsequent?
Nawrocki is predicted to be sworn in on August 6.
Smeich mentioned Nawrocki might want to show that he’s not simply good at campaigning, but in addition at governing.
“Expectations are excessive. Folks need somebody who will defend Poland’s pursuits, keep agency beneath strain, and never give in to media or overseas affect. He’s beginning his time period in a troublesome second — precisely the sort of second he was elected for.”
