Poles Elect President In Tense Runoff Watched by EU, US
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Voters in Poland prepare to choose a new president Sunday in a runoff that is closely watched by the European Union and the United States. Opinion polls predict a close race between a liberal pro-European candidate and a right-wing Euroskeptic.
Liberal Warsaw Mayor Trzaskowski, with support from Prime Minster Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party, is facing Karol Nawrocki, a right-winger backed by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The most recent survey published by polling agency IBRIS put Trzaskowski at 45.7% and his national-conservative, Euroskeptic rival, Nawrocki, at 44.9%, with 7.8% still undecided. A different institute put both candidates at 47% on May 23.
Both men have clashed over their country’s relationship with war-torn Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian troops in February 2022.
Nawrocki claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “treats Poland badly” and defended his criticism of Ukraine joining the NATO military alliance and suggested that many voters agree. “I speak the language of Poles.”
Nawrocki has signed an eight-point declaration that included a pledge to block Ukraine’s accession to NATO to win support from politician Slawomir Mentzen, viewed as far-right, who came in third in the first election round with almost 15% of voters. “You’re using (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s language,” Trzaskowski reacted in the televised debate, slamming Nawrocki’s stance on NATO and Ukraine.
The conservative candidate rejected accusations of echoing Putin, saying, “Millions of Poles today would like to say this, but they can’t because the slogan ‘you speak Putin’s propaganda’ immediately appears.’”
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS
Yet ahead of Sunday’s vote, U.S. Republican lawmakers questioned the European Union’s executive European Commission’s alleged bias in favor of Trzaskowski.
Brian Mast, chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, wrote a letter, signed by other House members, to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressing “profound alarm over reported developments in Poland that may undermine the integrity of its democratic processes.”
Mast accused the Commission of having a “double standard” in election rules that could tilt the balance in favor of Trzaskowski.
The first complaint is a May 15 Polish media report about a political advertising campaign favoring Trzaskowski by a non-governmental organization that the report and Mast linked to “operatives from the U.S. Democratic Party.”
NASK, Poland’s state body tasked with countering online disinformation, reported that paid campaigns on social media platform Facebook, allegedly funded from abroad, promoted Trzaskowski while discrediting Nawrocki and perceived “far-right candidate” Sławomir Mentzen.
Commentators said Mast’s letter reflects a broader Republican interest in supporting right-wing populists in Europe.
Vice President JD Vance recently met with the Alternative for Germany opposition party, which critics see as far-right. He also condemned Romania’s courts for annulling the country’s presidential election after Russia was accused of interfering with the campaign.
FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN
Back in Poland, “NASK said its analyses could not conclusively determine the funding source for the Facebook campaign or who commissioned it, the Polosh Digital Affairs Ministry said.
“Analysts did not rule out the possibility of provocation and stated that resolving the case requires action by the country’s security services,” the ministry added.
Ministry officials told the news outlet Politico that the case was reported to the Internal Security Agency and the National Electoral Office, and Facebook owner Meta was asked to remove the ads.
Meta claimed the advertisement’s “runtime had expired by the time the issue was made public” and that they were no longer accessible.
When Nawrocki accused Trzaskowski of getting money from Germany and liberal U.S. financier George Soros, Trzaskowski denied any improper financing and threatened Nawrocki with a lawsuit during a debate.
Nawrocki recently visited U.S. President Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office and reported that the president told him, “You will win.”
PiS’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) ties were also evident as the party hosted CPAC, the U.S. conservative get-together, on Tuesday.
At the conference, Trump’s homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, urged Poles to elect Nawrocki. Trump, she stressed, “is a strong leader for us, but you have an opportunity to have just as strong of a leader in Karol if you make him leader of this country.”
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