WARSAW: Nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki gained Poland’s presidential election, official outcomes confirmed on Monday (Jun 2), in a significant blow for the nation’s pro-EU authorities.
The 42-year-old, an admirer of US President Donald Trump, scored 50.89 per cent of votes in Sunday’s runoff, the nationwide election fee mentioned.
His 53-year-old rival Rafal Trzaskowski, Warsaw’s pro-EU mayor and an ally of the nation’s centrist authorities, gained 49.11 per cent within the extremely polarised NATO and EU nation.
“Congratulations to the winner!” outgoing conservative President Andrzej Duda mentioned on X.
Duda, who had endorsed Nawrocki, thanked Poles for “finishing up your civic responsibility” and for the turnout, which was 71.63 per cent.
The outcomes adopted a tense night as each candidates had claimed victory when an exit ballot indicated they had been neck and neck.
“We are going to win and we’ll save Poland,” Nawrocki instructed a crowd of supporters at his election night time rally in Warsaw quickly after polling stations closed.
Nawrocki’s win will block the federal government’s progressive agenda for abortion and LGBTQ rights and will revive tensions with Brussels over rule of regulation points.
It might additionally undermine sturdy ties with neighbouring Ukraine as he’s vital of Kyiv’s EU and NATO accession plans and desires to chop advantages for Ukrainian refugees.
Nawrocki visited the White Home throughout his marketing campaign and mentioned he had been instructed by Trump: “You’ll win.”
US Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem additionally endorsed Nawrocki when she attended a conservative convention in Poland final week, saying: “He must be the subsequent president.”
