Poland's midterm election between Trump friend and Mr. Bonjour
Published 11.26
Poland's midterm election on Sunday is crucial for the EU and stands between two polar opposites.
Trump-lover Karol Nawrocki, 42, who lifts a refrigerator in front of the TV cameras and says no to Ukrainian EU membership.
EU friend Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, who has three university degrees, speaks four languages and attends gay pride parades.
Quick version
The second round of the Polish presidential election, which began on Sunday morning, looks set to be a nail-biter.
The latest opinion poll on Friday points to a deadlock between the contenders: liberal Trzaskowski has 50.4 percent of the vote, while national conservative Nawrocki has 49.6 percent, according to Ewybory.
In other words, sun or rain can determine how many people go to the polls and thus who becomes president. For the liberal Polish government, the outcome is vital, since the Polish president has the right to veto.
Stopping reforms
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has not implemented his most important promises – the right to abortion from the twelfth week and the restoration of the independence of the judiciary – because the current national conservative president Andrzej Duda refuses to let the reforms go through.
If the right-wing Nawrocki takes over the presidency, the government's cancer will continue. If Trzaskowski wins, it can get its policies through, which in turn could strengthen the EU.
Both candidates are burdened with problems – but Nawrocki has the most scandals in his bag. The snuff scandal was not the biggest, but the only one with a Swedish connection.
During a live TV debate, Karol Nawrocki suddenly put something in his mouth, hidden by his other hand. There was immediate speculation that he was taking drugs.
It turned out to be snus, and Nawrocki finally explained that he used it to put up with his opponent's "lies".
Threatened with a lawsuit
In other cases, he has not admitted. As recently as Monday, the Onet newspaper revealed that Nawrocki arranged prostitutes for guests when he was a security guard at the Grand Hotel in the luxurious seaside resort of Sopot. Then the presidential candidate counterattacked and threatened with a lawsuit, even though the newspaper's sources claim that they are prepared to testify in court.
He has also denied having any connections with Nazis. Nawrocki also denied that he had swindled an apartment from a poor, elderly alcoholic man. He has claimed that he took over the apartment in a proper manner.
However, Nawrocki admits that in his youth he participated in hooligan fights at football matches. He has even claimed that this experience could help him in his presidential role.
Trzaskowski's problem lies on a completely different level:
- He is considered too smart, too far from the average Pole. In political circles he has been given the ironic nickname "Bonjour", says journalist Svjatoslav Chomenko to BBC Russians podcast Sjto eto bylo.
The reason: Trzaskowski has been an EU parliamentarian, Minister of Digitalization and, in addition to Polish, speaks fluent Italian, English and Spanish.
Met Trump
Opponent Karol Nawrocki, on the other hand, is criticized for having no political experience and knowing very few foreign politicians. Nawrocki was therefore very pleased when he had an audience with Donald Trump at the White House a few weeks ago, and the American president told him “you will win”.
“Trump loves strong men,” Nawrocki has said several times after the meeting.
He himself usually performs all sorts of strength tests in front of TV cameras. Nawrocki has publicly carried a refrigerator, done push-ups and fired a gun ahead of the presidential election.
Karol Nawrocki carries a refrigerator in front of the media cameras. Photo: Facebook
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