Latest news with #Karol Nawrocki
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Poland's new pro-Trump president brings nation into uncharted waters
Poland's new president Karol Nawrocki has vowed to defend his country's political independence from the EU , boost its role in Nato and restore a 'normal Poland'. Nawrocki's inauguration on Wednesday brings Poland into uncharted waters, intensifying decades-old political culture wars and creating a new, powerful opponent for prime minister Donald Tusk . His preferred candidate lost out narrowly in June's presidential election to Nawrocki, a 42-year-old amateur boxer, conservative historian and political newcomer. Nawrocki's 'Poland First' campaign, backed by the opposition national conservative Law and Justice (PiS), chime with voters - many of whom gathered with flags outside the Sejm parliament on Wednesday. READ MORE 'I will be the voice of those who want a sovereign Poland that is in the European Union ... but [which] is and will remain Poland,' said Nawrocki, promising to block any attempts by Brussels to 'take away Poland's powers'. He promised a new constitution by 2030 and signalled a new round in the standoff over Poland's judiciary by challenging Tusk administration efforts to roll back politicised appointments from the previous PiS administration. Echoing a PiS narrative, Nawrocki framed these rollback efforts as an attempt to 'undermine Poland's legal order' and hit out at the country's independent judiciary. 'Judges are not gods — they are here to serve the country and its citizens,' he added. As new titular head of the armed forces, Nawrocki pushed for a greater Nato presence in Poland and reaffirmed his country's security commitments, in particular to the US. [ Polish presidential election: Pro-Trump candidate Karol Nawrocki wins vote Opens in new window ] Nawrocki has called for a "sovereign Poland" and promised to "fight those who are pushing the nation towards decline". Photograph: Sergei Gapon/ AFP US president Donald Trump, who hosted Nawrocki during the campaign, sent the new president an inaugural gift of an American eagle statue. Wednesday's inauguration was a political triumph for opposition PiS chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski , whose previous protegé occupied the presidential palace for the last decade. Polish analysts are waiting to see how much of Nawrocki's robust campaign rhetoric follows him into office. On the campaign trail he presented himself as a conservative family man, defender of national identity, security and a bulwark against neo-liberal politics. The PiS-backed candidate promised to use his veto on domestic policy to reject illegal migration, attempts to raise the retirement age and block Nato membership for Ukraine . Those promises have cast a pall over the Tusk administration, a broad anti-PiS coalition with often competing political priorities that is riven with disagreement and enjoys just 48 per cent popular support. Given gloomy predictions for the months ahead, Tusk chose to accentuate the positive on Wednesday. The 68-year-old saw 'room for co-operation in key fields such as security', a nod to his government's harder line on security and migration affairs in recent months. Meanwhile, foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski expressed optimism that having a prime minister close to the EU and a president close to Donald Trump will allow Poland to 'play on two pianos at once'. On the campaign trail, Nawrocki shrugged off revelations about his past as a football hooligan. Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg While there is a consensus that Nawrocki poses a political challenge for Tusk, some see him as closer than others in PiS to extreme right-wing parties whose candidates polled well in the June election. On the campaign trail, Nawrocki shrugged off revelations about his past as a football hooligan and signed a political pact presented by the far-right populist Confederation party. Given all that, Tusk told journalists on Wednesday that the new president could soon declare his political independence and prove a handful for his PiS backer, 76-year-old PiS chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski. 'Perhaps the only person more nervous and sad in the room was Jaroslaw Kaczynski,' said Tusk outside the Sejm parliamentary chamber. 'I'm not surprised. There is a change of guard on the right and there is clearly a new leader'.
Free Malaysia Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Nationalist Nawrocki sworn in as Polish president in blow for Tusk
Karol Nawrocki took the presidential oath in a ceremony in the Polish parliament today. (AP pic) WARSAW : Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian and supporter of Donald Trump's Maga movement, was sworn in as Poland's president today, setting the stage for conflict with the centrist government and potentially cooler relations with Ukraine. Nawrocki took the presidential oath in a ceremony in the Polish parliament. The election victory of Nawrocki, who was backed by the nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), dealt a blow to prime minister Donald Tusk's hopes of cementing the pro-European Union course he has set for the bloc's largest eastern member and left his government floundering in the polls. Poland is now bracing for a continuation of the deadlock seen under nationalist outgoing president Andrzej Duda, with Nawrocki able to use his veto powers to stymie a government agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms implemented by PiS, which critics said undermined the independence of the courts. Nawrocki also looks set to pose a headache for the government by proposing measures such as tax cuts that are likely to be popular with many voters but hard to implement for an administration with a stretched budget. 'As prime minister, I have so far worked with three presidents,' Tusk, who was also prime minister from 2007 to 2014, wrote in a post on X. 'What will it be like with the fourth? We'll manage.' Much uncertainty The incoming president has said he does not currently see a place for Ukraine in Nato or the EU, a marked shift in tone compared to Duda. As president, Nawrocki would be required to sign off on Poland's ratification of a new member joining Nato. While Tusk has said that the European Union should play a bigger role in defence matters alongside Nato, PiS and Nawrocki have argued this would undermine Poland's alliance with the US. 'The US is undoubtedly our priority partner,' said Nawrocki's spokesman Rafal Leskiewicz. However, the fact that the former head of the Institute of National Remembrance is a political newcomer who was little known to the public before PiS threw its weight behind him means there is much uncertainty about how his presidency will pan out, political observers say. 'I don't know if he will, in short, fully implement the policies of Law and Justice… or if he will try to come up with his own initiatives,' said Andrzej Rychard, a sociologist from the Polish Academy of Science. Nawrocki emerged victorious from a tumultuous campaign in which allegations regarding his past, including that he acquired a second property from an elderly man in return for a promise of care that he did not provide, frequently dominated the headlines. Nawrocki denied accusations of wrongdoing, although he admitted to taking part in an organised fight between football hooligans, adding to the tough-guy image the amateur boxer had already sought to cultivate. After the election, supporters of defeated liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski filed thousands of protests to the Supreme Court over irregularities at some polling stations. However, the irregularities were not enough to materially alter the result. PiS accuse their liberal opponents of trying to subvert the will of the people and their supporters plan to march in the capital on inauguration day. 'Whoever can – come to Warsaw… for the swearing-in of the president,' PiS lawmaker Michal Wojcik wrote on X. 'Let's show that patriots are with Karol Nawrocki on this important day.'
