Nationalist opposition candidate Karol Nawrocki has narrowly won Poland’s presidential election, defeating Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.
Nawrocki, backed by the Law and Justice party (PiS), secured 50.9% of the vote, narrowly defeating Rafal Trzaskowski, an ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-government coalition, who received 49.1%.
As Poland’s new president, Nawrocki is expected to continue using his veto power to block Prime Minister Tusk’s pro-European Union agenda.
The result – welcomed by right-wing forces in Europe and the United States – is also likely to energise Nawrocki’s supporters in the national-conservative PiS party, which lost power 18 months ago.
