Pro-EU Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski is set to face nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki in Poland’s presidential runoff on 1 June, an exit poll showed after the first round, as the far-right made record advances.
An overall victory for Trzaskowski would be a boost for the centrist government led by former European Council chief Donald Tusk, which has been at loggerheads with the current nationalist president.
Ever since Tusk’s coalition came to power in 2023, key government initiatives have been blocked by vetoes from nationalist President Andrzej Duda of the Law and Justice party (PiS), who is not eligible to run again.
A victory for Nawrocki, who is backed by the PiS party, would likely extend the political deadlock and analysts predict that fresh parliamentary elections may have to be called.
Trzaskowski was expected to get 31.2 percent of the vote and Nawrocki 29.7 percent in Sunday’s first round, according to an Ipsos poll based on 90 percent of the votes.
Preliminary results are expected early Monday.
“This result shows... how determined we have to be, how much work lies ahead of us,” Trzaskowski, 53, told supporters in the southeastern town of Sandomierz.