Supporters of conservative presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki maintain up indicators as they rally in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, Might 13, 2025. The writing reads: Karol, the person who will turn into president, Get up, Poland! and Our president Karol Nawrocki.
Czarek Sokolowski/AP
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Czarek Sokolowski/AP
WARSAW, Poland — Poles are voting Sunday in a presidential election at a time of heightened safety considerations stemming from the continued conflict in neighboring Ukraine and rising fear that the U.S. dedication to Europe’s safety could possibly be weakening underneath President Donald Trump.
The highest two front-runners are Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, a liberal allied with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian with no prior political expertise who’s supported by the nationwide conservative Regulation and Justice get together.
Current opinion polls present Trzaskowski with round 30% help and Nawrocki within the mid-20s. A second spherical between the 2 is broadly anticipated to happen on June 1.
The election can be a check of the power of different forces, together with the far proper.
Sławomir Mentzen, a hard-right candidate who blends populist MAGA rhetoric with libertarian economics and a essential stance towards the European Union, has been polling in third place.
Ten different candidates are additionally on the poll. With such a crowded discipline and a requirement {that a} candidate obtain greater than 50% of the vote to win outright, a second spherical appeared all however inevitable.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500GMT) and shut at 9 p.m. (1900GMT). Exit polls shall be launched when voting ends, with outcomes anticipated by Tuesday, probably Monday.
Polish authorities have reported makes an attempt at overseas interference in the course of the marketing campaign, together with denial-of-service assaults concentrating on events in Tusk’s coalition on Friday and allegations by a state analysis institute that political advertisements on Fb have been funded from overseas.
Though Poland’s prime minister and parliament maintain main authority over home coverage, the presidency carries substantial energy. The president serves as commander of the armed forces, performs a task in overseas and safety coverage, and might veto laws.
The conservative outgoing president, Andrzej Duda, has repeatedly used that energy over greater than the previous yr to hamper Tusk’s agenda, for instance blocking ambassadorial nominations and utilizing his veto energy to withstand reversing judicial and media adjustments made throughout Regulation and Justice’s time in energy from 2015 to late 2023.
A Trzaskowski victory could possibly be anticipated to finish such a standoff. He has pledged to help reforms to the courts and public media, each of which critics say have been politicized underneath Regulation and Justice. Tusk’s opponents say he has additionally politicized public media.
Nawrocki, who leads a state historic institute, has positioned himself as a defender of conservative values and nationwide sovereignty.
