Although the role is symbolic, Karol Nawrocki will continue to block any liberal reform while fascism gains ground

~ Nikita Ivansky ~

After the first presidential election polls were published on Sunday, it seemed like Polish society had just dodged the bullet—the far-right Karol Nawrocki trailed the centrist Rafał Trzaskowski by only 1%. Several hours later it became clear that the far-right had won, which means the governmental deadlock in Poland will most likely continue until the next parliamentary elections.

To a certain extent, Nawrocki is the Polish version of Trump: an inexperienced politician surrounded by dozens of scandals that don’t affect his popularity among conservatives. Unlike the US president, however, the Polish president has very limited power, mostly symbolic. The only thing that makes Nawrocki problematic is his presidential power of veto, which will continue to block any reforms proposed by the current liberal conservatives running the country. The current prime minister, Donald Tusk, had similar problems with the outgoing far-right president, Andrzej Duda.

Of course, anti-migrant legislation continues to be passed by the current government without the far right placing any obstacles. For example, the recent revocation of the right to asylum passed by the ruling coalition was signed quickly by Duda. This only reinforces the crisis of liberal politics, which has failed to develop a reasonable response to the rise of the far right. On the other hand, the Polish government failed to pass a law that would legalise abortion in the country, which was one of their major promises ahead of their 2023 victory. In fact, parts of the parliamentary majority voted with the right against legalisation.

Nawrocki’s victory was also made possible by US conservative support. At the beginning of May, Donald Trump met with Nawrocki to boost his political career. Just a couple of days before the elections, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Warsaw. The results show all of these efforts managed to sway public opinion. 

Like elsewhere in Europe, Polish liberals and social democrats are now caught between Russian-funded fascists and US-supported far-right political parties. Anti-authoritarians who work to organise grassroots resistance and mobilise society against these authoritarian forces cannot rely on them as allies.