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NBC News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Poland set for knife-edge presidential runoff as far right surges
WARSAW, Poland — The centrist and nationalist hopefuls contesting Poland 's presidential election runoff began trying to win over the supporters of eliminated candidates on Monday, in a major test of the coalition government's pro-European policies. A broad alliance led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk swept to power in 2023 promising to mend ties with the European Union and undo judicial reforms implemented by the previous Law and Justice (PiS) rulers, which the European Union said undermined democracy. However, Tusk's agenda has been stymied by the veto powers of the departing president, PiS-ally Andrzej Duda. Rafal Trzaskowski, from Tusk's governing Civic Coalition (KO), narrowly led Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the conservative-nationalist PiS, on Sunday, by 31.4% to 29.5%, a much narrower gap than opinion polls had suggested. But a surge in support for far-right and anti-establishment candidates left the runoff on a knife-edge. An Opinia24 poll for private broadcaster TVN published after the first round gave Trzaskowski 46% in the runoff and Nawrocki 44%, with 10% undecided or refusing to say. The second round takes place on June 1. 'We have to talk to everyone, the most important thing is the arguments,' Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, told reporters. 'I'm glad that many young people went to the polls, but it's a great challenge to convince them to vote for me.' Nawrocki said he would seek support from both left and right. 'My social agenda and the fact that I will be the guardian of the social achievements of the Law and Justice government and Solidarity (trade union) make it an offering for left-wing, socially sensitive circles too,' he said. The far right achieved its best result ever. Slawomir Mentzen of the Confederation party and Grzegorz Braun, who in 2023 caused international outrage by using a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in parliament, together scored over 21%. Many young voters have expressed disillusionment with the dominant parties, KO and PiS, and Mentzen in particular enthused them with an economically liberal, eurosceptic and anti-immigrant program that he says provides an alternative to both. But Mentzen has criticized Nawrocki and analysts say it is by no means certain that all his supporters will back the PiS candidate. Meanwhile, two left-wing candidates together scored just over 9% on Sunday. But neither gave Trzaskowski an unequivocal endorsement. Magdalena Biejat, whose party belongs to Tusk's coalition, said Trzaskowski must show that he 'treats left-wing voters seriously.'
RTÉ News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Polish presidential candidates to face off in second round
Centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and nationalist Karol Nawrocki will compete in a second round of the presidential election in Poland on 1 June, near-total voting results from the electoral commission (PKW) have showed. The commission published data from 99.7% of voting districts by provinces at 6.52am Irish time, but did not give an overall result. The data shows Mr Trzaskowski and Mr Nawrocki being well ahead of other candidates in 13 of 16 provinces. An Ipsos late exit poll from the first round yesterday showed Mr Trzaskowski placed first with 31.2% of the vote, ahead of Mr Nawrocki, who had 29.7%. The gap was much narrower than the 4-7 percentage points seen in opinion polls before the vote. "We are going for victory. I said that it would be close and it is close," Mr Trzaskowski told supporters. "There is a lot, a lot, of work ahead of us and we need determination." Mr Nawrocki also told supporters he was confident of victory in the second round and called on the far-right to get behind him and "save Poland." "We have to win these elections so that there is no monopoly of power of one political group, so that there is no monolithic power in Poland," he said. An Opinia24 poll for private broadcaster TVN published after the first round gave Mr Trzaskowski 46% in the run-off and Mr Nawrocki 44%, with 10% of voters either undecided or refusing to say. Far-right candidates Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun scored more than 21% combined, a historically high score. Mr Braun, who in 2023 used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament, an incident that caused international outrage, won 6.3% of the vote according to the late poll. Mr Mentzen stopped short of immediately endorsing Mr Nawrocki. "Voters... are not sacks of potatoes, they are not thrown from one place to another," he said. "Each of our voters is a conscious, intelligent person and will make their own decision." Stanley Bill, Professor of Polish Studies at the University of Cambridge, said the combined strong showing of nationalist and far-right parties meant the results were "a disappointment for the Trzaskowski camp and put wind in the sails of Nawrocki." "I would add to this that the results are a significant blow to Donald Tusk's ruling coalition," Mr Bill added. Turnout was 66.8% according to the late poll. Presidential veto In Poland, the president has the power to veto laws. A victory for Mr Trzaskowski in the second round would enable Mr Tusk's government to implement an agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms introduced by PiS that critics say undermined the independence of the courts. However, if Mr Nawrocki wins, the impasse that has existed since Mr Tusk became prime minister in 2023 would be set to continue. Until now, PiS-ally President Andrzej Duda has stymied Mr Tusk's efforts. If the late poll is confirmed, the other candidates in the first round, including Mr Mentzen from the far-right Confederation Party, Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Poland 2050 and Magdalena Biejat from the Left, will be eliminated. One more updated poll that takes into account partial official results will be published later during the night. Role in Europe Mr Trzaskowski has pledged to cement Poland's role as a major player at the heart of European policymaking and work with the government to roll back PiS's judicial changes. Mr Nawrocki's campaign was rocked by allegations, which he denies, that he deceived an elderly man into selling him a flat in return for a promise of care he did not provide. But Mr Trump showed support by meeting Mr Nawrocki in the White House. Mr Nawrocki casts the election as a chance to stop Mr Tusk achieving unchecked power and push back against liberal values represented by Mr Trzaskowski, who as Warsaw mayor was a patron of LGBT marches and took down Christian crosses from public buildings. Unlike some other eurosceptics in central Europe, Mr Nawrocki supports military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia. However, he has tapped into anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some Poles weary of an influx of refugees from their neighbour. He has said Polish citizens should get priority in public services and criticised Ukraine's attitude to exhumations of the remains of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II.
Japan Today
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Polish centrist Trzaskowski slightly ahead in presidential vote, exit poll shows
A person votes during the first round of Poland's presidential election at a polling station in Krakow, Poland, May 18, 2025. Agencja Wlodek/via REUTERS By Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk Rafal Trzaskowski from Poland's ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) was seen narrowly ahead in a presidential election first round on Sunday, an exit poll showed, setting up a close fight to determine if Poland sticks to a pro-European path. Trzaskowski placed first with 30.8% of the vote, ahead of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, who had 29.1%, the Ipsos exit poll showed. If confirmed, the result would mean that Trzaskowski and Nawrocki will go head-to-head in a runoff vote on June 1 to determine whether Poland sticks to the pro-European path set by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk or moves closer to nationalist admirers of U.S. President Donald Trump. "We are going for victory. I said that it would be close and it is close," Trzaskowski told supporters. "There is a lot, a lot, of work ahead of us and we need determination." Nawrocki also told supporters he was confident of victory in the second round. In Poland, the president has the power to veto laws. A Trzaskowski victory in the second round would enable Tusk's government to implement an agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms introduced by PiS that critics say undermined the independence of the courts. However, if Nawrocki wins, the impasse that has existed since Tusk became prime minister in 2023 would be set to continue. Until now, PiS-ally President Andrzej Duda has stymied Tusk's efforts. If the exit poll is confirmed, the other candidates in the first round, including Slawomir Mentzen from the far-right Confederation Party, Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Poland 2050 and Magdalena Biejat from the Left, will be eliminated. Two updated polls that take into account partial official results will be published later in the evening and early on Monday morning. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
France 24
18-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Poland: pro-EU candidate narrowly ahead in first round of presidential election
Poland 's presidential election looked to be on a knife edge on Sunday, after Rafal Trzaskowski from Poland's ruling centrists Civic Coalition (KO) was seen narrowly ahead in the first round, setting up a close fight over Poland's pro-European path. Trzaskowski placed first with 30.8% of the vote, ahead of Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, who had 29.1%, according to an Ipsos exit poll. If confirmed, the result would mean that Trzaskowski and bNawrocki will go head-to-head in a runoff vote on June 1 to determine whether Poland sticks to the pro-European path set by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk or moves closer to nationalist admirers of US President Donald Trump. "We are going for victory. I said that it would be close and it is close," Trzaskowski told supporters. "There is a lot, a lot, of work ahead of us and we need determination." Nawrocki also told supporters he was confident of victory in the second round and called on supporters of far-right candidates to get behind him to "save Poland." Far-right candidates Slawomir Mentzen and Grzegorz Braun scored almost 22% combined, a historically high score. Braun, who in 2023 used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament, an incident that caused international outrage, won 6.2% of the vote according to the exit poll. Poland battles Russian destabilisation efforts ahead of presidential vote 06:08 Presidential veto In Poland, the president has the power to veto laws. A Trzaskowski victory in the second round would enable Tusk's government to implement an agenda that includes rolling back judicial reforms introduced by PiS that critics say undermined the independence of the courts. However, if Nawrocki wins, the impasse that has existed since Tusk became prime minister in 2023 would be set to continue. Until now, PiS-ally President Andrzej Duda has stymied Tusk's efforts. If the exit poll is confirmed, the other candidates in the first round, including Mentzen from the far-right Confederation Party, Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Poland 2050 and Magdalena Biejat from the Left, will be eliminated. Two updated polls that take into account partial official results will be published later in the evening and early on Monday morning. Role in Europe Trzaskowski has pledged to cement Poland's role as a major player at the heart of European policymaking and work with the government to roll back PiS's judicial changes. Nawrocki's campaign was rocked by allegations, which he denies, that he deceived an elderly man into selling him a flat in return for a promise of care he did not provide. But Trump showed support by meeting Nawrocki in the White House. Nawrocki casts the election as a chance to stop Tusk achieving unchecked power and push back against liberal values represented by Trzaskowski, who as Warsaw mayor patronised LGBT marches and took down Christian crosses from public buildings. Unlike some other eurosceptics in central Europe, Nawrocki supports military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia. However, he has tapped into anti-Ukrainian sentiment among some Poles weary of an influx of refugees from their neighbour. He has said Polish citizens should get priority in public services and criticised Kyiv 's attitude to exhumations of the remains of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War Two.
