WARSAW — Poland’s new President Karol Nawrocki was sworn in Wednesday morning in what his chief political rival, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called a “sad day.”
Nawrocki, backed by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party that ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, slammed Tusk’s centrist government in his inaugural speech: “It is impossible to continue governing in this manner, and Poland should not look like it does today.”
Nawrocki is expected to stall Tusk’s reform agenda until the next parliamentary election set for 2027, meaning the Poland is likely to see two years of political conflict and deadlock.
Poland’s president has a national mandate and can propose and veto legislation (which Tusk’s coalition doesn’t have the votes to override), but the country’s domestic and foreign policies are largely under the control of the government run by the prime minister.
PiS legislators clapped and chanted Nawrocki’s name during the speech, while Tusk and members of his Cabinet looked on solemnly.
“I want to speak to all Poles for whom today is a sad and disappointing day. I know very well how you feel. I understand you,” Tusk said in a video published just minutes before Nawrocki’s inauguration. “We all believed that honesty, goodness, and love would prevail. What has happened puts our faith to a serious test.”
Nawrocki also referenced the bitter election campaign, where he was dogged by scandals ranging from a football hooligan past to a property deal that triggered a criminal probe and accusations (which he denies) that he provided prostitutes to hotel guests while working as a security guard.
He said he won “in spite of electoral propaganda and lies. In spite of political theater and in spite of the contempt,” something he said he would “forgive as a Christian.”
The new president laid out his agenda until the end of his five-year term, and there are many areas that will clash with Tusk’s priorities.
Nawrocki said he would block Poland’s accession to the euro, something the country is committed to as an EU member and which the government has been fitfully moving toward.
“I will, of course, support relations within the European Union, but I will never agree to the European Union taking away Poland’s powers, especially in matters that are not enshrined in the European treaties,” he said.
He also vowed that “Poland must return to the path of the rule of law.”
That’s a jab at the Tusk’s government’s halting effort to restore judicial independence and removing judges accused of being improperly nominated under PiS — something made more difficult by resistance from outgoing PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda.
Nawrocki promised to continue defending the legal system created under PiS.
“I will not promote or nominate judges who undermine the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Poland,” Nawrocki said.
Tusk has tried to speed up a revamp of the judicial system under new Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek, who has already begun driving out judges whose nominations are seen as improper.
In another poke at Tusk, Nawrocki indicated one of his first initiatives would concern a project to build a massive new airport in central Poland. It was one of the flagship policies of the past PiS government but has been thoroughly revised under the new government.
Nawrocki also restated some key pledges from his campaign, including opposing illegal immigration and ruling out any increase in the retirement age, while calling for a plan to step up housing construction, a nod to the parliamentary left within Tusk’s increasingly fragile ruling coalition.
The one area where Nawrocki is likely to see eye-to-eye with Tusk is defense. Poland has the highest military budget of any NATO country as a percentage of the economy, is a key ally of the United States and is crucial in efforts to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Nawrocki pledged to “support all efforts to modernize the Polish army to make it the largest NATO land force within the European Union.” He also promised to “engage closely with the U.S.” and “lead in building a resilient and responsible security architecture on NATO’s eastern flank.”
The post New Polish president begins his term with clash with PM Donald Tusk appeared first on Politico.
