Right-wing historian Karol Nawrocki defied the pollsters by winning the Polish presidential election on Sunday.
Nawrocki polled 50.89% of the vote, narrowly beating Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski who scored 49.11%.
No gloss can be put on this result. In the first round of the elections, far-right parties came second, third and fourth.
Support of fascist groups
Although Nawrocki stood as an independent, he is very much a man of the far right. He was publicly backed by the populist right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS).
The Konfederacja candidate, Sławomir Mentzen, came third, in the first round winning almost 15% of the votes for an extreme far-right party whose supporters include fascist groups.
To garner their support Nawrocki signed an eight-point charter presented to him by Mentzen.
Nawrocki agreed to not sign any laws that would ratify Ukraine’s entry to NATO, or send Polish soldiers to Ukraine, introduce new taxes or restrict Poles’ access to firearms.
Veto legislation
Poland’s president is a largely ceremonial role, but the president can veto legislation.
The current incumbent president, Andrzej Duda, used his powers to prevent Prime Minister Tusk delivering key campaign promises, including liberalising the country’s strict abortion law.
The result will re-energise the Law and Justice (PiS) party, and will give the PiS renewed belief that they can win the 2027 parliamentary elections
One other significant development is that Poland’s youth mainly backed two candidates from anti-establishment parties on the left and right.
According to the exit poll conducted during the first round, among voters aged 18 to 29, the Konfederacja party came first, with 34.8% of the vote, while Adrian Zandberg of the left-wing Together (Razem) party was second, with 18.7%.
This result is a blow to all anti-fascists in Poland and Europe.
