Rafal or Carol – Poles can today untie (or not) Tusk’s hands for reform
In Poland, millions of citizens are called to elect a new president today. The race here, like Romania, is between a mayor and a conservative nationalist, though not as aggressive as George Simion. Here are the stories of the two leading contenders told by Reuters:
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Truzhaskovsky, son of a jazz musician who graduated from Oxford, and a favorite of the Polish presidential election on Sunday, made friends with people in the European Parliament while working there, including the current Foreign Minister of Portugal.
Poland chooses a pre -chair and the bet on Donald Tusk is high, and for Europe, even more so
« He was very well known, not only because he was very talented, » Paulo Rangel said during a break from the election campaign in his own country, referring to the time they spent together as EU legislators since 2009. « He really became very popular … because he was a very calm personality, but at the same time he could speak five languages. »
Truzhaskov can communicate in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Italian. His supporters hope that his friendships with high -ranking European politicians such as Rangel can strengthen Poland’s growing influence in Europe since Prime Minister Donald Tusk inherited a Eurosceptic nationalist in 2023.
| But this is also part of the reason some Poles who will vote in the first round of the May 18 presidential election to perceive it as part of a liberal metropolis elite whose concerns are far from their own. |
Truzhaskovski describes the vote as a choice between Western liberal values and increasing nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, where Eurosceptic parties have already won power or are ready to do so. « These elections are about whether we will be part of the West or part of the East, » he told a rally in the northern port city of Schczchin.
| « Look where Slovak is today, where Hungary is, what happens in the Balkans. Look – the same battle is fought in Romania … These parties are either pro -Russian or repeat Russian propaganda. They just don’t feel at home in Europe. Why? Because Europe is too positive for them. » |
His rivals respond to the impact. « He is so European that he has forgotten that he is a Pole, » said Marek Suski, a member of the Nationalist Opposition Party Law and Justice (PS).
The ID supports conservative historian and amateur boxer Carol Narotsky to become president, a role with limited enforcement powers, but the right to veto the legislation, the elections that are likely to move to the second round.
The departing president of PIs, Andrzej Duda, uses his right to veto to block many of Tusk’s pro -European reforms.
- After studying in Oxford and Paris, Truzhaskovski wrote a doctoral dissertation in Warsaw, entitled « The Dynamics of Reforming the Decision System of the European Union ». He worked as an advisor and elected member of the European Parliament before becoming Minister of Administration and Digitization of Poland, and then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- As mayor of Warsaw since 2018, he has built a reputation as a supporter of liberal causes, such as LGBT rights.
- Critics tell him that he is a deeply polarizing figure in a country where many Poles, especially outside the big cities, maintain socially conservative views, and are sharply critical of me to the right during the presidential campaign.
- His rivals also say that his pro -European position means that he will put the interests of other countries over those of Poland.
- Supporters tell him that he is trying to reach all sides of the political spectrum.
« Its purpose is to reduce the polarization we observe in Poland, » said Lamb Pomaska, a MP from the ruling civil coalition (CO) and a member of the Tzhaskovski election team. « He is definitely not a person who rejects ideas just because they come from another political camp. »
Rangel said Truzhaskovsky could consolidate Poland’s place as a major player at the center of European political development regarding double challenges – the Russian invasion of Poland’s eastern neighbor Ukraine and US President Donald Trump duties. The international experience of Truzhaskov « will open many doors, » Rangel said.
While the main one is presenting himself as a European representative, the nationalist Polish opponent Carol Narotsky has published videos with him at shooting and boxing rings or a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House.
Unlike other Eurosceptics in Central Europe, such as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Hungarian Victor Orban or George Simion, who runs for President of Romania on Sunday, when Poland is voting, Narotsky supports the provision of military assistance to help Ukraine.
But he says that if elected, he will oppose Ukraine’s membership in Western Unions until the exhumations of the remains of the Polish victims killed by Ukrainian nationalists are approved during World War II – a controversial issue between allies for decades. Ukraine, which began to resolve exhumations in April, claims that the killings – Poland estimated them over 100,000 victims – were part of a wider conflict between the two countries and that thousands of its citizens were also killed.
Narotsky’s critics say he nourishes concern over Ukrainian refugees at a time when the far right focuses on migration, life costs and security. He cites the slogan of his campaign « Poland in the first place ».
| « Let us help others, but let us take care of our own citizens first, » he said in social media last month. |
Public opinion studies show that 42-year-old Narotsky, a conservative historian and amateur boxer, is second before the vote, after the Liberal Mayor of Warsaw. The two are likely to compete in the run -off on June 1st.
Three years after the war of Ukraine with Russia, some Poles blamed approximately one million refugees in the country for long health queues, low pay and crowded kindergartens, which is echo from the UK before Brexit.
Public opinion studies show that the far -right Slavomir Menzen is third in the race and his voices may be decisive for Narotsky’s victory in the second round.
« This is a policy built on the fear of the Ukrainians, » said Anna Martian-Sosnovska of Warsaw University. « Its purpose is to attract (far -right) voters. »
Historical complaints have long been defended by politicians on the right in Poland, in particular by the far-conservative opposition « Law and Justice » (PI). Pista has attracted widespread criticism in the West that she has undermined democratic norms when she ruled eight years until 2023. Although Narotsky is technically independent, Poku raised him in the presidential election.
| As the head of the Institute of National Memory, which examines crimes against Poland, Narotsky is also the object of a Russian arrest warrant for his policies for the removal of monuments marking the onset of the Red Army at the end of World War II. |
For Richard Pshiborovsky, a retiree from Western Poland, who plans to vote for Tsaskovski, Narotsky cannot be trusted, and his policy against Ukraine is unconvincing: « We have to focus primarily on building a good -neighbor relations, » he said.
- Support for Narotsky has declined in recent weeks against the background of allegations that he has not declared the ownership of an apartment acquired by a vulnerable pensioner. However, many people support it, saying that they understand their struggles with costs of life and migration.
- Critics also expressed doubts about those familiar with his youth, including football hooligans and convicted criminals, some of whom were reported, participated in events organized by the World War II Museum in Gdansk when he ruled it.
Narotsky rejects criticism, and stating that his football fans are Polish citizens like everyone else.
