Karol Nawrocki: New President of Poland - what does that mean for Europe?

Karol Nawrocki: New President of Poland - what does that mean for Europe?

Polen - Karol Nawrocki becomes Poland's new president. The candidate of the right-wing conservative ex-government party "Law and Justice" (PIS) prevailed in the runoff election on June 1, 2025 against pro-European applicant Rafal Trzaskowski. The turnout was 71.63 percent high and exceeded the values ​​of the first ballot. Nawrocki received more than 10.6 million votes with 50.89 percent of the vote, while Trzaskowski received 49.11 percent and thus over 10.2 million votes, which corresponds to a decrease of 0.28 percentage points compared to its values ​​of 2020, such as our-mitteleuropa.com reported.

Nawrocki is officially independent, but was the candidate of the right -wing nationalist PIS, which was in power from 2015 to 2023. Politics under the PIS often represented a challenge for the government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is now ruling in a center-left coalition. The previous President Andrzej Duda congratulated Nawrocki after his election victory, while the election is considered directional to the future of Poland. Nawrocki has positioned itself by taking a critical point of view of Germany and looking for an approach to Donald Trump, for example to request reparations for damage from the Second World War, such as Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.

NAWROCKI, who has had little political experience so far and, among other things, acted as head of the Museum of the Second World War and chairman of the People's Representation in Gdansk, his new office takes up in a challenging time for Europe. His presidency will play a key role in legislation and foreign policy, since it has an impact on the appointment of the head of government and has a veto law in laws. The next term of office takes five years and the new president is called to master the challenges both inside and outside.

The choice is of international interest, which is underlined by congratulations by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes for a positive cooperation with Nawrocki. Despite these expectations, opinions on the future development of German-Polish relationships are divided. The new President plans an non -European orientation that could provide a lot of conversation in the coming years.