Liberal mayor narrowly leads Poland election in blow to Trump

Yahoo

2 days ago

The liberal mayor of Warsaw appeared set to narrowly win Poland's presidential election on Sunday, according to exit polls.
Rafal Trzaskowski was projected to defeat his Right-wing rival in what would be a blow to populist movements in Europe that have been backed by Donald Trump.
An exit poll by Ipsos for broadcasters TVN, TVP and Polsat showed Mr Trzaskowski of the ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) winning 50.3 per cent of ballots, while his rival, a nationalist historian and amateur boxer, Karol Nawrocki, backed by nationalists Law and Justice (PiS), was at 49.7 per cent.
'We've won!' Mr Trzaskowski said in Warsaw shortly after the exit poll dropped.
Official results, however, were expected on Monday, although a late poll that mixes some results with exit surveys was expected to be published overnight.
Mr Trzaskowski, 53, campaigned on a promise to help the government of Donald Tusk, the prime minister, complete its democratic reforms, which they both say aim to repair an erosion of checks and balances under the previous nationalist government that lost power in 2023.Parliament holds most of the power in Poland, but the president can veto legislation, so the vote is being watched closely in neighbouring Ukraine, as well as in Russia, the US and across the European Union.Both candidates agreed on the need to spend heavily on defence, as Mr Trump is demanding from Europe, and to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's three-year-old invasion.But while Mr Trzaskowski sees Ukraine's future membership of Nato as essential for Poland's security, Mr Nawrocki said recently that if he were president he would not ratify it because of the danger of the alliance being drawn into war with Russia.
Both candidates had hinted at the high stakes on the campaign trail.
'This is the time to save Poland,' Mr Nawrocki said after the first round.
'I told you eight months ago it would be very close – and it is very close,' Mr Trzaskowski said.Mr Trzaskowski, who hails from Mr Tusk's Civic Platform, narrowly came out on top in the first round, winning 31.4 per cent of the vote to Nawrocki's 29.5 percent.
One Ipsos poll breakdown found that Mr Trzaskowski led among Poles aged 40-59.
The PiS, meanwhile, narrowly took the 60-plus bracket, while younger Poles tended to break for other parties either on the far Right or far Left.
Since then, the two run-off candidates have been appealing to supporters of the other parties, with centrist and leftist candidates defeated in the first round endorsing Mr Trzaskowski.
Mr Nawrocki got a boost from the Trump administration's Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary.
In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland last week, she called Mr Trzaskowski 'a trainwreck'.The Trump White House has enjoyed warm relations with Andrzej Duda, the current Polish president, and was looking to continue them under another PiS president.
Mr Nawrocki travelled to Washington earlier this year to meet with Mr Trump.In the run-up to the election Mr Tusk emphasised broad security concerns, including the threat of 'weaponised' migration from Poland's border with Russian ally Belarus
He has also criticised the European Green Deal while calling for a complete phase-out of fossil fuels from Russia, more defence spending in Europe, and for Ukraine to eventually be admitted into Nato.Domestically, his government also oversaw a public apology to LGBT people in Poland through state television, efforts to depoliticise courts that have been packed with PiS loyalists over the last 10 years, and moves to liberalise abortion access.
However, many of the reforms on Mr Tusk's current to-do list remain hamstrung in the country's current political deadlock between prime minister and president.Full results of Sunday's presidential election are expected early Monday morning.
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