Right wing toasts Nawrocki while European leaders offer cautious congratulations

Centrist European leaders gritted their teeth and congratulated conservative populist candidate Karol Nawrocki on his Polish presidential election win Sunday.

While there was cautious optimism among the mainstream that Poland will continue cooperating with the EU, Europe’s right wing cheered a perceived defeat for Brussels.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in her congratulatory message on X, called on Nawrocki to “work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home,” the European Union. 

Under the previous rule of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which backed Nawrocki, relationships between Brussels and Warsaw became strained over clampdowns on human rights and backsliding on the rule of law, culminating in the suspension of EU funds for Poland. 

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government, which took power in 2023, attempted to restore relations and repair democratic institutions, but the previous president from PiS, Andrzej Duda, stood in the way with his veto power. Euroskeptic Nawrocki, who hinted strongly that he would fight any EU federalist tendencies, is poised to continue Duda’s efforts.

“I’m confident that the EU will continue its very good cooperation with Poland,” von der Leyen wrote. “We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also expressed hope that the two allied countries would continue close cooperation. On the campaign trail, Nawrocki promised he would block Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, but agreed to continue providing weapons as Kyiv resists Russia’s full-scale invasion.  

“By reinforcing one another on our continent, we give greater strength to Europe in global competition and bring the achievement of real and lasting peace closer,” he wrote in a congratulatory post on X. “I look forward to continued fruitful cooperation with Poland and with President Nawrocki personally.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, another conservative nationalist, who now likely has another ally in Warsaw, was more enthusiastic in his congratulations.

“What a nail-biter!” he wrote on X, congratulating Nawrocki “on his fantastic victory,” adding that he is looking forward to strengthening cooperation within the Visegrad, an alliance of four Central European countries in the EU, three of which — Poland, Hungary and Slovakia — will now be headed by Euroskeptics. 

Jordan Bardella, the rising figure of the French far right, was also delighted by Nawrocki’s win. 

“The Polish people have spoken and their free and democratic choice must be respected, including by the Brussels leaders who were fervently hoping for their defeat,” he wrote. 

Nawrocki narrowly beat centrist Rafał Trzaskowski in Poland’s presidential election runoff, winning 50.89 percent of the vote to 49.11 percent, according to the electoral commission.