Presidential election is “referendum on Tusk”, says opposition candidate Nawrocki

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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.

Poland’s presidential election on 18 May “will be a referendum on rejecting [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk’s government”, declared Karol Nawrocki, the candidate supported by the national-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, in a speech today outlining his programme.

Among the pledges made by Nawrocki were to lower taxes and energy bills, end Ukraine’s “indecent” treatment of Poland, reject the European Union’s “sick” climate policies, and demand reparations from Germany for World War Two.

Nawrocki is technically a non-party candidate but is standing with the support of PiS, Poland’s main opposition party. Today’s convention in Szeligi, on the outskirts of Warsaw, was attended by leading PiS figures, including its leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, who declared from the stage that Nawrocki is “our candidate”.

The event took place under the slogan: “Poland, a sphere of normality. Let’s build security, development and prosperity together!”

Nawrocki’s speech focused on those themes, with the candidate suggesting that all of those areas were under threat due to the failings of Tusk’s government.

On the biggest current issue – the war in Ukraine – Nawrocki continued with the narrative he has pushed through his campaign, which is that Poland should continue to support Kyiv in its struggle against Russia, but that it must do more to also stand up for its own interests in the relationship.

“In a strategic sense, an independent, sovereign Ukraine that has the strength to stop Russia is in the geopolitical interest of the Polish state,” said Nawrocki, quoted by broadcaster TVN.

But, he continued, “our support and our strategic interest do not allow us to let the Ukrainian state treat us in the way it has been treating us recently…[which has been] indecent and we need to say it clearly”.

As examples, Nawrocki pointed to “Polish farmers subjected to unfair competition from Ukrainian agriculture” and “Polish transport companies who tell me they are struggling with unfair competition from Ukrainians”. He also called for Ukraine to move ahead with exhumations of Polish World War Two victims.

Since 2023, Polish farmers and truckers have held periodic protest blockades on the border with Ukraine, complaining that the loosening of European restrictions on Ukrainian exports during the war has led to unfair competition.

Poland and Ukraine have also long been at an impasse over the exhumation of ethnic Poles massacred during World War Two by Ukrainian nationalists. However, Tusk’s government recently announced a breakthrough, with exhumations due to begin this spring.

During his speech today, Nawrocki also accused “the Polish government of preparing an anti-American rebellion” with fellow EU leaders, reports news website OKO.press. Tusk today attended a summit of European leaders in London to discuss support for Ukraine.

Nawrocki, meanwhile, praised current PiS-backed President Andrzej Duda, who last week flew to Washington to meet Donald Trump, for “taking care of our relations with the US”.

“The elections on 18 May will be a referendum on the rejection of Donald Tusk’s government,” declared Nawrocki. “By voting for [Tusk’s candidate, Rafał] Trzaskowski, you are voting for Tusk; by voting for Nawrocki, you are voting against Tusk.”

“I am here on behalf of all those who live in a Poland of high prices and shrinking aspirations and ambitions, on behalf of those who have no chance of a fair trial, on behalf of those who live in a democracy that growls at all those who think differently,” he continued, quoted by Polsat News.

Various opinion polls have recently shown growing frustration among the public with Tusk’s government, which took power in December 2023.

Nawrocki today pledged to “reject the sick trends that infect the minds of Polish citizens” and “destroy the sphere of our normality”. As examples, he mentioned the EU’s “Green Deal” of climate policies and attempts to “reinterpret the natural gender identity of our children”, reports Polsat News.

He also outlined his own “contract” with Poles that included pledges to lower VAT by one percentage point to 22%, constitutionally guarantee no inheritance tax, and end personal income tax (PIT) for families with two or more children.

Another promise was to reduce electricity prices – which have been a primary driver of inflation – by 33%. To achieve this, “it is enough to reject the Green Deal, green taxes, reject sick projects and electric car programmes, all of which we pay for”, said Nawrocki, quoted by Business Insider Polska.

Poland’s president generally has little role in formulating policy and legislation. However, they can veto bills passed by parliament – a power Duda has used – while they also serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and play a role in foreign policy.

Nawrocki also pledged to resume efforts initiated by PiS when it was in government – and since sidelined by Tusk – to seek over $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for World War Two.

“This must happen, not only because of historical justice and decency, but also for our development,” he declared, quoted by news website Wirtualna Polska. “We do not have to ask; we should demand that Germany pay us reparations.”

Nawrocki is currently running second in the polls, with support averaging around 23%, behind Trzaskowski on around 34%. However, recent weeks have seen a rapid rise in support for Sławomir Mentzen of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja), who is now on around 17%.

Should no candidate win more than 50% of the vote on 18 May, a second-round run-off between the top two will take place on 1 June. The victor will replace the outgoing Duda when his second and final term ends in August.

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: Karol Nawrocki/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.