Polish opposition presidential candidate signs far-right leader’s list of demands

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Conservative opposition presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki has signed a set of eight pledges proposed by his eliminated far-right rival Slawomir Mentzen, as he seeks to win support from the latter’s voters ahead of a run-off against government-aligned centrist Rafał Trzaskowski.

Among Mentzen’s demands that Nawrocki has now agreed to are to not sign any laws ratifying Ukraine’s entry to NATO, sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine, expanding the European Union’s competences, introducing new taxes or restricting Poles’ access to firearms.

In the first round of the election, held last Sunday, Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Poland’s main ruling group, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), finished first with 31.36%. He was closely followed by Nawrocki, who is supported by the national-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, on 29.54%.

That meant that the pair proceed to a second-round run-off on 1 June, ahead of which they are seeking to win the support of those who voted for their eliminated rivals, in particular Mentzen, who finished third with 14.81%, well ahead of the rest of the pack.

On Tuesday, Mentzen publicly invited Trzaskowski and Nawrocki to appear on his YouTube channel and asked them to sign a declaration supporting eight issues that he said are particularly important to him and his supporters.

He asked the candidates to declare:

• I will not sign any bill that increases existing taxes, contributions, fees or introduces new fiscal burdens.
• I will not sign any law restricting cash circulation and I will protect the Polish zloty.
• I will not sign any law restricting the freedom to express views that are consistent with the Polish constitution.
• I will not allow Polish soldiers to be sent to Ukrainian territory.
• I will not sign a law on ratification of Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
• I will not sign any law limiting Poles’ access to weapons.
• I will not agree to the transfer of any competences of the authorities of the Republic of Poland to the bodies of the European Union.
• I will not sign the ratification of any new EU treaties that weaken Poland’s role, e.g. by weakening its voting power or taking away the right of veto.

Nawrocki almost immediately accepted the invitation and expressed his willingness to sign the declaration. On Thursday afternoon, he appeared on Mentzen’s YouTube channel, where the pair discussed the eight pledges.

They came to agreement on each of them, and at the end of the 90-minute conversation, Nawrocki signed a declaration containing all eight promises. During the meeting, he also expressed other views supportive of those held by Mentzen and his far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party.

Asked by Mentzen if the former PiS government, which ruled from 2015 to 2023, had been right to allow 366,000 immigrants from majority-Muslim and/or African countries into Poland, Nawrocki replied: “Accepting Islamic immigrants is always bad.”

Nawrocki also agreed that a major tax reform introduced by the PiS government, known as the Polish Deal (Polski Ład) had been a mistake and said that PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński had been wrong to initially express acceptance of the EU’s flagship climate policy, the Green Deal.

Leading Confederation politicians quickly took to social media to note that Nawrocki had presented himself as “more of a candidate of Confederation than of PiS”, in the words of Confederation MP Witold Tumanowicz. “Not that I trust Karol Nawrocki in these declarations,” he quickly added.

Figures from KO and its partners in the ruling coalition, meanwhile, mocked Nawrocki for distancing himself from so many policies previously pursued by PiS, the party that supports his candidacy though which he is not a member of.

“Nawrocki has already disowned [former PiS Prime Minister Mateusz] Morawiecki and Kaczyński,” wrote KO MP Marta Wcisło. “You can’t believe a single word he says.”

PiS MP and former speaker of parliament Elżbieta Witek, however, praised Nawrocki for showing “an attitude worthy of the president” during his discussion with Mentzen.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the leader of KO, criticised Nawrocki’s willingness to sign Mentzen’s demands, in particular regarding Ukraine’s entry to NATO.

“Putin’s first and most important demand for Ukraine and the West is a ban on Ukraine joining NATO,” wrote Tusk. “Nawrocki has just willingly signed this demand. The next one will be the capitulation and division of Ukraine. He will also sign that. Deadly dangerous for Poland.”

Throughout the campaign, Nawrocki has presented a tough line on Ukraine. In January, he declared that he “currently does not envision Ukraine in either the EU or NATO”. He has also pledged to ensure Polish citizens are treated better in their own country than immigrants, most of whom are Ukrainians.

Trzaskowski on Tuesday also accepted an invitation to appear on Mentzen’s YouTube channel. That conversation has been scheduled for this Saturday.

“My competitor, Karol Nawrocki, announced that he will sign the declaration prepared by Sławomir Mentzen. I don’t know what they have in PiS with this signing [practice of] quickly and blindly. We already have one such president,” said Trzaskowski, referring to Duda, who has been accused of signing anything sent to him by PiS.

“Therefore, Sławomir, I can’t guarantee you that I will sign anything, but I can guarantee that we will talk honestly,” added Trzaskowski. “An open debate is something that we all need.”

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Sławomir Mentzen/X

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.