European Populists Hail Victory of Pro-Trump Nawrocki in Pivotal Polish Presidential Elections
The stunning victory of upstart conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki in the Polish presidential elections was hailed by pro-Trump populists as it sent shockwaves throughout the European Union.
The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which led the country for eight years before being defeated by Eurocrat Donald Tusk in 2023, raised eyebrows by backing relatively unknown anti-communist historian and director of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, in the presidential race to replace outgoing Andrzej Duda.
Despite trailing by nearly 20 points to progressive former presidential candidate and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski, Nawrocki’s nationalist and traditionally conservative message broke through, paving the second-strongest victory of any presidential candidate since Poland gained its independence in 1989.
While initial exit polls on Sunday’s second round of voting appeared to favour Trzaskowski, having built up strong support in urban areas, Nawrocki overtook his rival in later projections and ultimately won by a margin of 50.89 per cent to 49.11 per cent for the Warsaw mayor. The results are a significant blow to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s globalist government, which has sought to push the country into a more pro-EU and progressive direction.
Although the position of president is largely ceremonial, Nawrocki will be empowered with the ability to veto legislation, likely scuppering any hopes for Tusk to enact liberal reforms before the next parliamentary election in 2027. This will likely mean that Tusk’s plans to roll back restrictions on abortion and to advance the LGBTQ+ agenda have collapsed.
Nawrocki will also seek to stymie the European Union’s Green New Deal, making himself a likely ally of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He will also likely be another critic of the war in Ukraine, aligning himself with leaders such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak PM Robert Fico.
Mr Orbán hailed the results, saying: “What a nail-biter! Congratulations to President Nawrocki on his fantastic victory in the Polish presidential elections. We are looking forward to working with you on strengthening the Visegrad cooperation. Good luck, Mr President!”
Other European populists were quick to hail the victory as well, including French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who said: “Faced with a European Commission whose authoritarian policies and federalist ambitions are brutalising national sovereignty, Karol Nawrocki’s victory in the Polish presidential election is welcome news. It is a rebuff to the Brussels oligarchy, which intends to impose a standardization of legislation on member states, contrary to any democratic will.”
Praising the president-elect for adopting a “Poland First” agenda akin to President Donald Trump, populist Dutch leader Geert Wilders said: “Congratulations Poland, with this patriotic President!”
During his campaign, Nawrocki openly embraced President Trump and vowed to be a strong ally of the U.S. administration, particularly to advance issues such as peace in Ukraine. The Polish politician personally met with Trump in the White House last month, relaying that the president had expressed his belief that he would win the election.
Following disappointing results in neighbouring Romania last month, Nawrocki’s successful campaign may bode well for fellow Trumpian politicians in Europe. Indeed, the results will likely be a relief for Prime Minister Orbán, who faces a tough re-election battle against pro-Brussels MEP Péter Magyar.
The victory may also serve as a boon to pro-Trump former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic as he seeks to return to power in the upcoming election in October.
Nawrocki’s success over Prime Minister Tusk’s globalist Civic Platform party as a relative newcomer to the political scene in Poland was perhaps even more impressive given the all-out media blitz attempt to take down his candidacy.
During the race, the historian faced a myriad of mostly anonymously-sourced hit pieces about his past, including claims that he had obtained a second apartment under dubious circumstances, was allegedly involved in prostitution while working as a hotel security guard, which he denied, and that he was involved in an underground fighting ring, which Nawrocki claimed were “noble fights”. There were even media attempts to claim that he was unfit for office over his use of nicotine pouches.
Professor Jarosław Flis of Jagiellonian University in Kraków remarked that the smear campaign tactics deployed by the liberal media and the globalist government were similar to those deployed against Donald Trump in last year’s U.S. elections, in which “people willingly voted for the candidate attacked by the establishment.”
“There has been no lesson learned from the elections in the United States or from the Polish elections in 2023, that if those in power start attacking the opposition and do it too zealously and with too much satisfaction, they are actually harming themselves. It says more about them, that they are afraid,” he said.
