Combative speech in parliament sets Nawrocki on potential collision course with Donald Tusk’s pro-EU coalition
The nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki has been sworn in as the Polish president, using his inaugural address to criticise the EU as he vowed to represent “sovereign” Poland, in a sign of potential clashes to come with the country’s pro-European government.
In a combative speech in parliament aimed squarely at the prime minister, Donald Tusk, and his allies, Nawrocki said on Wednesday that the voters in June’s presidential election had “sent a strong message … that things cannot continue to be governed in this way”.
The 42-year-old attacked his rivals for the “propaganda, lies … and contempt” to which he said he had been subjected during the polarising campaign. He said he opposed “illegal migration … and joining the euro”, and wanted a “sovereign Poland that is in the European Union … but is and will remain Poland”.
A devout Catholic, Nawrocki ended his speech with a cry: “May God bless Poland, long live Poland.”
