Poland election: Polls open in tight presidential runoff – DW – 06/01/2025
Skip next section Welcome to DW's coverage of the 2025 Poland presidential election
Poland will go to the polls today to vote in the runoff election between two candidates with starkly different visions for the country.
Voters will choose between pro-EU Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, backed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and conservative nationalist Karol Nawrocki, supported by the opposition Law and Justice party.
The winner will succeed incumbent President Andrzej Duda.
DW will be tracking the latest developments and bringing you multimedia content and analysis on the vote.
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Azerbaijan: 12 years prison for explaining economics? – DW – 06/02/2025
Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty journalist Farid Mehralizada could spend the next 12 years in an Azerbaijani prison. His crime? Explaining economics. Talk to Farid Mehralizada's friends and colleagues, and they'll tell you that he has a superpower: the ability to explain economics in a way that ordinary people can understand. It was this superpower that made the young economist and Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/ RL) journalist a sought-after commentator on talk shows and discussion panels in Azerbaijan, where he would patiently debunk one government claim after the other. It was also very likely this same superpower which led to his arrest. On May 30, 2024, Mehralizada was violently abducted near a Baku station by unidentified men, who hooded him and delivered him to a police station. Two days later, a Baku court placed him in pre-trial detention for "conspiring to smuggle foreign currency." Three months later, "illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion and document forgery" were added to the charges. If convicted, he could face up to 12 years in prison. Mehralizada's job of explaining economic issues to the public got him in trouble with the authorities Image: RFE / RL Painful memories for formerly incarcerated journalist Mehralizada's trial, which is expected to conclude this month, has brought back difficult memories for his RFE/ RL colleague, Alsu Kurmasheva, who spent nine months in a Russian prison after being accused first of failing to register herself under Russian President Vladimir Putin's controversial foreign agent law, then of the much more serious charge of "spreading false information." "Hearing that the prosecutors wanted a 12-year sentence for Farid was very painful," she told DW's Inside Europe podcast . "It took me back to my sentence where the prosecutor wanted nine years' imprisonment for me." 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Poland election: Tusk to ask for a vote of confidence – DW – 06/02/2025
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he will request a vote of confidence in the near future. His centrist government suffered a setback after conservative nationalist Karol Nawrocki won the presidential election. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on Monday his intention to request a government confidence vote in parliament, after his candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, lost a presidential election on Sunday. The victory of the nationalist opposition candidate, Karol Nawrocki, in Sunday's presidential election was a significant setback for the centrist government's efforts to strengthen Warsaw's pro-European orientation. According to the National Election Commission, Nawrocki won with 50.89% of the vote. A eurosceptic historian was supported by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party. Liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal backed by the ruling Civic Coalition and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, received 49.11%. He conceded defeat and offered his congratulations to Nawrocki. This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.
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Germany will play 'leading role in combating global crises' – DW – 06/02/2025
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