Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki (2L) with his wife, Marta Nawrocka, (L) and sons Daniel (R) and Antoni (2R) react during the presidential election night in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Photo by Leszek Szymanski/EPA-EFE
June 2 (UPI) -- Karol Nawrocki, a populist conservative backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has won Poland's presidential runoff election, according to official results released Monday.
Eyes across the country, Europe and even North America were watching the race in Poland, where the presidency is a somewhat symbolic position -- especially compared to the prime minister and their executive powers -- but one that does carry veto authority.
The election of Nawrocki also suggests a political shift in the deeply divided nation.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Kazimierz Trzaskowski -- of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party -- had narrowly beaten Nawrocki, a conservative historian who ran as an independent, in the first round of voting on May 18, but failed to secure a majority of the votes to win the presidency outright.
