The centrist mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzawski, and conservative Karol Nawrocki disputes the presidency in a ballot with an open end.
Poland He will celebrate this Sunday the second round of presidential elections that could mark a turn in their foreign policy and in the internal agenda of the country. The mayor of Warsaw, the centrist and properope Rafal Trzawskifaces the conservative historian Karol Nawrockiin a contest that the polls qualify as extremely tight.
According to the latest surveys published in the local media, Trzawski -Actual communal chief of the capital and ally of the liberal prime minister Donald Tusk- It would be imposed with 50.6% of the votesjust above 49.4% projected for their rival. Nawrocki, 42 and close to nationalist positions, has been critical of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees and rejects the incorporation of Ukraine into NATO, a position that could reconfigure the role of Poland as Kyiv key ally in Eastern Europe.
What is at stake: civil rights and institutional course
Although The presidency in Poland is largely ceremonialthe Head of State has Faculties of Legislative Vetowhich can work or unlock important reforms.
In that sense, An eventual triumph of Trzawski53 years, It would strengthen Tusk’s government and would open the door to initiatives such as The legalization of civil unions between people of the same sex either A review of the restrictive abortion legislation. During the mandate of the outgoing president, Andrzej doubts “Conservative profile, many of those proposals were stopped.”
The result of the elections may not be known until Mondaydue to the little margin between the candidates and the weight of the vote abroad. The first round, held on May 18, left Trzawski first with a 31% compared to 30% of Nawrockiwhile the applicants of the extreme right harvested a significant 21%figure that could tip the balance in this definition.
In addition to the impact on internal policy, A possible triumph of Nawrocki generates restlessness among international analystswho warn that could unleash an institutional crisis and force new legislative elections in one of the countries with the highest economic growth of the European Union and NATO.
Source: Ambito
