CIVICUS discusses the results of Poland’s presidential election with Filip Pazderski, Programme Manager for Civil Society of the Stefan Batory Foundation, a civil society organisation that promotes democratic governance.
On 1 June, nationalist conservative Karol Nawrocki won Poland’s presidential runoff with almost 51 per cent of the vote, narrowly defeating liberal Rafał Trzaskowski. Nawrocki ran as an independent but was backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS) and endorsed by Donald Trump. His presidency is expected to challenge Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European Union (EU) government by vetoing reforms, potentially constraining civil society and human rights protections and bringing a continuation of anti-immigration policies.