The liberal Europhile Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, won the first round of the Polish presidential election on Sunday, May 18th, with conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki coming in a close second.
The two will face each other in a second round of voting on June 1st.
Poland, Final results:
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) May 19, 2025
Presidential election, first round today
Trzaskowski (PO-EPP): 31.4% (+1.0)
Nawrocki (PiS-ECR): 29.5% (-14.0)
Mentzen (Kon-ESN|PfE): 14.8% (+8.1)
Braun (KKP-NI): 6.3% (+6.3)
Hołownia (PL2050-RE): 5% (-8.0)
Zandberg (Razem-LEFT): 4.9% (+4.9)
Biejat… pic.twitter.com/HPnKPtGirE
Though the presidential office is mainly a ceremonial one with limited powers, it does allow for its holder to veto bills. With Trzaskowski at the helm, the abuses of power by the liberal-centrist government would continue unabated, while Nawrocki would challenge Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s regime.
Since coming to power, the Tusk government has arrested opposition MPs and former ministers, withheld state funding from the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, carried out the forceful takeover of public media and the prosecutor’s office, and has disregarded court rulings issued by judges it perceives as being pro-PiS.
Speaking to his supporters on Sunday night, Karol Nawrocki said:
I will be your voice in the presidential palace. We simply have to win these elections on June 1st, so that there is no monolithic government in Poland, so that the system of government does not fall into the hands of one group.
The conservative candidate, who ran as an independent but was backed by PiS, said he would stop efforts to bring in illegal migrants to Poland, to adopt the euro as the country’s currency, and would also reject the ratification of any EU treaty modification that would take away more of Poland’s sovereignty.
According to the final results announced on Monday, Rafał Trzaskowski received 31.4% of the votes, while Nawrocki got 29.5%. Third place went to Sławomir Mentzen, the candidate of the right-wing Konfederacja party, who got 14.8%. Another right-wing politician, Grzegorz Braun, finished in fourth place and received 6.3% of the votes.
Karol Nawrocki appealed to the supporters of Sławomir Mentzen to vote for him in the second round because “it is time to save Poland.”
Sunday’s elections were overshadowed by serious allegations of foreign-funded meddling on behalf of Trzaskowski. This comes at a time when conservative politicians and parties all over Europe are trying to be silenced by the ruling liberal elites.
The runoff on June 1st will be a tight affair, with the latest opinion polls suggesting that Trzaskowski leads by only 3 percentage points ahead of Nawrocki.
The gap is much smaller between the two than it was a few weeks ago, meaning that the relatively unknown Nawrocki’s message of a return to a “normal Poland”—upholding the protections for workers and families, opposing the EU’s climate policies, respect Christian values, and rejecting LGBT propaganda—has resonated with many voters.