Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, has been formally invited to the White House, his chief of staff said Saturday.
Paweł Szefernaker said in a post on X on Saturday that United States President Donald Trump sent Nawrocki an “official congratulatory letter” inviting him to Washington on Sept. 3 for a working meeting.
Nawrocki narrowly won Poland’s presidential election in early June with the backing of the opposition Law and Justice party and the Trump administration. He was sworn in on Wednesday in what his chief political rival, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, called a “sad day.” A delegation from the U.S. attended the ceremony.
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.
Nawrocki used his inaugural speech to slam Tusk’s centrist government, saying: “It is impossible to continue governing in this manner, and Poland should not look like it does today.”
The new president is expected to stall Tusk’s reform agenda until the next parliamentary election, which is set for 2027, meaning Poland is likely to see two years of political conflict and deadlock.
His election campaign was dogged by a series of scandals that are likely to continue to cause him problems while in office.
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