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Polish presidential hopefuls in final campaign push

Polish presidential hopefuls in final campaign push

The Guardian16-05-2025

Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Morning opening: Building up to Super Sunday Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Jakub Krupa
Good morning, or dzień dobry , from Warsaw, Poland, where 13 presidential candidates are up very early to make the most of the last day before the 'electoral silence' kicks in ahead of this Sunday's first round of the presidential vote.
With leading contenders hitting the campaign trail around 6am local time today, it's going to be a long day ahead for them as they hope to convince some undecided voters in what looks like an increasingly tight race.
The frontrunner, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, popped in to a bakery in Myśliborz, while his main rival, conservative Karol Nawrocki, went to say hi to miners. You get the idea.
I have spent the last few days here talking to voters and attending rallies by candidates ranging from far-left to far-right, and I will bring you some of what I saw and heard today and over the weekend.
The candidates have only until midnight to campaign, and they want to make every minute count.
I will bring you more updates on this throughout the day, as we build up to Super Sunday with elections not only in Poland, with Portugal set to choose its next government and a super close presidential run-off in Romania. Portraits of Portuguese political parties' leaders are displayed on a TV monitor before the start of an election TV debate, ahead of the general election, in Carcavelos, outside Lisbon. Photograph: Armando França/AP A billboard displays electoral posters of the candidates for the 2025 presidential election runoff, in Bucharest, Romania. Photograph: Robert Ghement/EPA
But we will also keep an eye on the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, where key European leaders are expected to talk about the future of the continent. Britain's Starmer, Germany's Merz, France's Macron, Turkey's Erdogan, Poland's Tusk, and EU's von der Leyen and Costa are all there.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It's Friday, 16 May 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
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