Latest news with #InstituteOfNationalRemembrance
Russia Today
a day ago
- General
- Russia Today
Polish president-elect on Russia's wanted list
Polish president-elect Karol Nawrocki is listed as wanted by Russia on criminal charges related to his role in the destruction of Soviet-era monuments in the country, according to the Russian Interior Ministry's public database. Nawrocki, a conservative candidate who narrowly clinched a victory in the run-off vote on Sunday, is being sought by Russia 'under a criminal article,' the database says, without providing more details. The Polish president-elect has been in the sights of the Russian authorities since at least February 2024, according to TASS. The agency reported at the time that Russian law enforcement officials had initiated criminal proceedings against several senior Polish officials, including Nawrocki, then serving as director of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. The charges were related to the removal and destruction of Soviet war memorials. The Soviet Union lost over 600,000 soldiers during its campaign to liberate Poland from Nazi Germany between 1944 and 1945. After the war, hundreds of monuments were erected across Poland commemorating their role. Since the collapse of the Warsaw bloc and the end of the Cold War, Poland has accused the Soviet Union of 'occupying' the country and has made efforts to eliminate communist-era symbols. By late 2023, the Polish authorities had removed 468 of the 561 Soviet memorials in the country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Moscow has accused Warsaw of trampling on the historical truth and paving the way for justifying Nazi collaborators. Nawrocki, who ran as an independent backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, defeated liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski with 50.89% of the vote in the presidential vote. He is scheduled to be sworn in on August 6. The president-elect, who also served as the director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk between 2017 and 2021, has generally supported continued aid to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, but has spoken out against Kiev joining NATO, or sending Polish troops to the country. He has also opposed closer EU-Ukraine trade ties, arguing that they would encourage unfair competition and undermine Polish agricultural and transport enterprises.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Karol Nawrocki declared winner of run-off election by Polish media
Polish conservative Karol Nawrocki won the run-off election for the presidency, according to local media on Monday, citing the election commission's count of more than 99% of votes. Nawrocki secured just under 51% of the vote, Polish media, including the Rzeczpospolita newspaper and portal, reported. His opponent, liberal candidate Rafał Trzaskowski, received just over 49%. An official final result of the vote to find a successor to President Andrzej Duda is not expected until Monday evening from the electoral commission. All the opinion polls in the run-up to Sunday's vote had indicated a razor-thin gap between the candidates since the first round of voting on May 18. Exit polls on election night on Sunday also indicated the result was too close to call, with forecasts giving Trzaskowski around 50.3% of the vote and Nawrocki about 49.7%. Trzaskowski had called the outcome a win immediately after the first exit polls were announced. In Poland, the president holds a five-year term and has broad powers, including representing the country abroad, shaping foreign policy, appointing the prime minister and the Cabinet, and serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the event of war. Nawrocki, a historian who has never held public office, represents the conservative nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS). As head of the Institute of National Remembrance tasked with evaluating the country's complex recent past, Nawrocki ordered Soviet memorials to be destroyed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exploiting the move in the media and incurring the wrath of the Kremlin. His upbringing in a working class area in Gdańsk, his successful career in amateur boxing and his work as a nightclub bouncer while a student are pluses with many voters. Less so his alleged links to prostitution dating back to that time. He aims to maintain traditional Polish values and cautions against transferring powers to the European Union. Nawrocki enjoys the backing of US President Donald Trump, who granted him an audience in the White House in early May during the Polish presidential campaign.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
What to know about Karol Nawrocki, Poland's newly elected conservative president
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The final result of Poland's presidential election only became clear after a long, nail-gripping night of counting as both candidates were locked in a near dead heat in the first exit polls after voting ended. Poles awakened Monday to a clear albeit close result that returns a nationalist politician to the presidency who has pledged to hinder the centrist, pro-EU government for the remainder of its term. Here's what to know about Karol Nawrocki, Poland's newly elected conservative president: Trump backed him Nawrocki is a 42-year-old historian who had no political experience prior to the campaign and who was not even a party member until he was tapped by the conservative Law and Justice party that governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. Nawrocki heads the Institute of National Remembrance, which embraces nationalist historical narratives. He led efforts to topple monuments to the Soviet Red Army in Poland. Russia responded by putting him on a wanted list, according to Polish media reports. Nawrocki's supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Many of them oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ visibility and say Nawrocki reflects the traditional values they grew up with. He was also the preferred favorite of U.S. President Donald Trump, with the American conservative group CPAC holding its first meeting in Poland last week during the campaign to give him a boost. Kristi Noem, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary and a prominent Trump ally, strongly praised him and urged Poles to vote for him. His campaign echoed themes popular on the American right. A common refrain from his supporters is that Nawrocki will restore 'normality,' as they believe Trump has done. U.S. flags appeared at his rallies. Nawrocki performed better in the first round than expected, an indication he was underestimated in the polling. Nawrocki was linked to scandals Nawrocki's quick political rise has not been without controversy, with reports linking him to underworld figures whom he met while boxing or working as a hotel security guard in the past. Nawrocki has also been linked to a scandal involving the acquisition of a Gdansk apartment from an elderly pensioner named Jerzy. Allegations suggest Nawrocki promised to care for Jerzy in return but failed to fulfill the commitment, leading the man to end up in a publicly funded retirement home. His shifting explanations raised questions about his transparency and credibility. After the scandal erupted he donated the apartment to a charity. It recently emerged that Nawrocki took part in a 2009 Gdansk brawl involving about 140 rival soccer fans, some later convicted of crimes. Nawrocki described the fight as a form of 'noble' combat. Polish media have also reported on his connections to gangsters and the world of prostitution. His critics say all of these things make him unfit to represent Poland as the head of state but many right-wing voters don't believe the allegations and accuse the media of using its power to hurt him, creating what appears to be a rallying effect around him. It's unclear what effect, if any, these scandals had on the outcome of Sunday's result.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Karol Nawrocki: Polish historian with problematic past
Independent conservative Karol Nawrocki is an historian who has never held public office and is now running for the Polish presidency. That could help the 42-year-old candidate for the conservative nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) in a country tired of political manoeuvring - and the motivation behind PiS head Jarosław Kaczyński's decision to push his nomination. Nawrocki meets all his mentor's criteria: young, tall, imposing, versed in foreign languages and a family man with two children. As head of the Institute of National Remembrance tasked with evaluating the country's complex recent past, he ordered Soviet memorials to be destroyed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exploiting the move in the media and incurring the wrath of the Kremlin. His upbringing in a working class area in Gdansk, his successful career in amateur boxing and his work as a nightclub bouncer while a student are pluses with many voters. Less so his alleged links to prostitution dating back to that time. Nawrocki represents the national-conservative and populist policies of the PiS, which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023. He aims to maintain traditional Polish values and cautions against transferring powers to the EU. In all of this he enjoys the backing of US President Donald Trump, who granted him an audience in the White House in early May during the Polish presidential campaign. Negative press reports on evicting an elderly man from a flat for his own benefit and a recent revelation that he participated in a football riot in Gdansk in 2009 may dent his chances with some voters, but could also boost them among right-wing supporters.
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
I fought in football hooligan battles, admits Polish presidential hopeful
One of Poland's presidential candidates was involved in a bare-knuckle mass brawl between rival football hooligans, his campaign team has admitted. Karol Nawrocki is facing a run-off vote on June 1 against Rafał Trzaskowski, the Warsaw mayor running for prime minister Donald Tusk's pro-EU Civic Platform party. According to a joint investigation by Poland's Onet and Wirtualna Polska news sites, Mr Nawrocki was one of about 140 people who faced off in a forest near Gdansk in 2009. Mr Nawrocki's team confirmed the claim. Though Mr Nawrocki said he did not regret his actions, calling it an act of 'noble combat', the revelation could lose him support among moderate voters ahead of next Sunday's presidential election. Mr Nawrocki came in second last week in the first round voting on 29.1 per cent. The favourite, Rafał Trzaskowski, inched ahead on 31.1 per cent. Mr Trzaskowski was hurt by the far-Right candidates Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun taking more than 20 per cent of the votes. Mr Nawrocki joined in the fight while he was a doctoral student of history working at Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, which investigates crimes committed by the Nazis and Communist regimes. Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper said the fight was filmed, but so far it does not appear to have been made public. The scandal is the latest to surround Mr Nawrocki, who has become a controversial figure in Polish politics. In last week's presidential debate, he was seen sneaking something into his mouth, which his team later said was snus, a powdered tobacco made illegal in Poland. He took it 'so as not to fall asleep during Rafał Trzaskowski's tirades', his team said. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to show support for the rival candidates. Mr Tusk hopes to galvanise support for his candidate, the liberal Mr Trzaskowski, to replace the outgoing Andrzej Duda, a nationalist who has vetoed many of his efforts to reform the judiciary. 'All of Poland is looking at us. All of Europe is looking at us. The whole world is looking at us,' Mr Trzaskowski told supporters who waved Polish and European Union flags. Mr Tusk swept to power in 2023 with a broad alliance of leftist and centrist parties, on a promise to undo changes made by the nationalist Law and Justice government that the European Union said had undermined democracy and women's and minority rights. Having beat Mr Trzaskowski by Mr Nawrocki by 2 percentage points in the first round of the election on May 18, he is struggling to sustain his lead, according to opinion polls. Mr Nawrocki's voters, some wearing hats bearing the words 'Poland is the most important', gathered in a different part of the capital to show support for his drive to align Poland more closely with US president Donald Trump 's policies. 'I am the voice of all those whose cries do not reach Donald Tusk today. The voice of all those who do not want Polish schools to be places of ideology, our Polish agriculture to be destroyed, or our freedom taken away,' Mr Nawrocki told the crowd on Sunday. Some of his supporters carried banners with slogans such as 'Stop Migration Pact', 'This is Poland,' or displayed images of Trump. Mr Nawrocki has been at pains to distance himself from his rivals by cultivating an image of being both strong and down-to-earth. The revelation about his past hooliganism is unlikely to dent his image among his hardcore base, who appear to have ignored some of the worst allegations against him – one being that he acquired a second property from a elderly man in return for a promise of care which he did not provide. 'He would be a better... leader of the army,' said Elzbieta Jozwiak, a 65-year-old retired teacher attending a Nawrocki rally in the eastern town of Garwolin. 'Why? Because he is manly, strong, he fights off the attacks which are always targeting him.'
