Poland’s top nationalist presidential hopeful – Karol Nawrocki – agreed on Thursday to a set of terms laid out by a far-right party with which the candidate hopes to build a coalition in the upcoming run-off election next month.
Nawrocki, a member of the national opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, agreed to a set of eight pledges proposed in an appearance on the YouTube channel of far-right leader Slawomir Mentzen, another presidential candidate who was eliminated last week in Poland’s first round of presidential elections.
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“As we can see from this conversation, we see eye-to-eye on many issues,” Nawrocki said, addressing Mentzen’s supporters.“Join me on June 1,” at the runoff election, he added.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, of the rival pro-European Civic Platform Party, responded to Nawrocki’s comments with his own statement on Friday.
“A presidential candidate in Poland who, just to please Mr. Mentzen in one broadcast, says that Poland will never agree to Ukraine in NATO, there is no better term [for this] than high treason,” Tusk said in a televised interview with Poland’s TVN24.
“The last thing that Poland should do is to implement or support Putin’s demands… This is one of the biggest scandals of this campaign,” he said.
Nawrocki, a historian backed by the country’s previous main ruling party, will face off against the centrist government’s candidate, pro-EU Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, on the ballot.
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Trzaskowski won round one by a narrow margin but faces an uphill battle to score enough votes for an overall victory, according to analysts.
Mentzen, a co-leader of Poland’s Confederation party, took on the role of kingmaker and invited both runoff candidates this week to join him for separate interviews.
Trzaskowski will have his conversation with the political influencer on Saturday.
The eight-point statement signed by Nawrocki includes promises not to sign any legislation that would raise taxes, limit free speech, or welcome new members into NATO.
“I won’t sign any legislation regarding the ratification of Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” Nawrocki said.
Poland is currently home to nearly one million Ukrainian refugees, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But Polish sources estimate 2.5 million Ukrainians live in the country, or approximately 7% of the population, according to the BBC.
While serving as a key ally of Ukraine, Poland has been critical of Ukraine’s imports and recently announced the end of duty-free imports starting on June 1.
Public sentiment in Poland has turned against Ukrainian refugees, with 53% of Polish citizens in favor of accepting Ukrainian refugees in late 2024, down from 81% in 2022, according to a poll by CBOS Center.
“I am more critical of Ukraine” than President Andrzej Duda, Nawrocki told Mentzen.
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