Karol Nawrocki, the conservative presidential candidate backed by Poland’s main opposition party, has signed an eight-point declaration put forward by former rival, the right-wing Sławomir Mentzen, in a move to consolidate the conservative vote before the country’s final round of presidential elections.
The declaration—presented during a live-streamed event on Mentzen’s YouTube channel—includes commitments to oppose tax increases, prevent Polish troops being sent to Ukraine, and block Ukraine’s membership of NATO.
“We may disagree on some issues, but we have much in common,” Nawrocki told Mentzen’s supporters. “I’ll ensure your security.”
Liberal Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of Poland’s governing Civic Platform PO), won the first round of the presidential election on May 18th, but Nawrocki was tight on his heels, with a difference of less than two percentage points between them.
Konfederacja candidate Sławomir Mentzen finished third with 14.8% of the vote, making him well-positioned to become the kingmaker in the contest.
Mentzen is aware of this, and in a live-streamed event on his YouTube channel he invited the finalists to endorse his eight-point declaration in exchange for his backing. Mentzen’s demands include opposing tax increases, preventing the deployment of Polish troops to Ukraine, and rejecting Ukraine’s NATO membership.
Karol Nawrocki did not hesitate and signed the document at the event. In addition, he announced an agreement with Mentzen to expand the declaration to include opposition to the European Green Deal.
After the event, Mentzen polled his close-to-70,000-strong audience, with 61% stating that they would vote for Nawrocki.
The runoff will take place on June 1st. A UCE Research poll for Onet found that 65.9% of Mentzen’s voters plan to support Nawrocki, while 13.9% favour Trzaskowski.
Karol Nawrocki had previously appealed to the supporters of Sławomir Mentzen, asking them to vote for him in the second round because “it is time to save Poland.”
Speaking to his supporters on the night of the first round, Karol Nawrocki pledged to be their “voice in the presidential palace,” adding
We simply have to win these elections on June 1st, so that there is no monolithic government in Poland.
The conservative candidate has also vowed to stop efforts to bring illegal migrants into Poland, to oppose the adoption of the euro as the country’s currency, and said he would also reject the ratification of any EU treaty modification that would take away more of Poland’s sovereignty.
As we reported, two days before Poland’s presidential election, it emerged that a foreign-funded smear campaign had been launched to support liberal candidate Rafał Trzaskowski by targeting his main conservative rivals.
This happened while government officials were loudly warning about Russian meddling. In reality, the interference came from a group closely tied to the ruling coalition, one that worked hand-in-hand with state agencies meant to protect the vote.