Conservative Karol Nawrocki has won Poland’s weekend presidential runoff election, according to the final vote count.
Nawrocki won 50.89% of votes in a nailbiting final race against liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, who received 49.11%.
He will succeed conservative Andrzej Duda, whose second and final term ends on 6 August.
The close ballot had the country on edge since a first round two weeks earlier revealed deep divisions along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.
Although most day-to-day power lies in Poland lies with the prime minister, Donald Tusk, the president is able to influence foreign policy and, crucially, veto legislation.
Tusk, who came to power in late 2023 with a coalition government with a broad ideological divide, has been unable to muster enough support to fulfill certain electoral promises such as easing abortion law.
He is expected to face further obstacles with Nawrocki as president. The 42-year-old amateur boxer and political novice belongs to the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023.
A tight race
A first exit poll initially showed Trzaskowski with a slight lead over conservative historian Nawrocki, but two hours later an updated “late poll” showed Nawrocki winning 50.7%, more than Trzaskowski with 49.3%
Turnout was 72.8% - higher than the 67.3% reported in the first round on 18 May. Voting started at 7 am and ended at 9 pm.
At a conference at 6:30 pm, the chairman of the Polish National Electoral Commission said incidents had been reported during the voting, with "232 possible offences" taking place.
The runoff follows a tightly contested first round of voting on May 18, in which Trzaskowski won just over 31% and Nawrocki nearly 30%.
Both leaders claimed victory
Though the final result was still unclear on Sunday evening with the two locked in a near dead heat, both men claimed to have won in meetings with their supporters in Warsaw.
“We won,” Trzaskowski told his supporters to chants of “Rafał, Rafał.”
“This is truly a special moment in Poland’s history. I am convinced that it will allow us to move forward and focus on the future,” Trzaskowski said. “I will be your president.”
Nawrocki, speaking to his supporters at a separate event in Warsaw, said he believed he was on track to win. “We will win and save Poland,” he said. “We must win tonight.”
