News From Poland – Updates June 2, 2025

Nawrocki will not to sign into law bills opposed by Menzen
The presidential candidate of the hard-right Confederation party, Sławomir Menzen, who came third in the first round of the election on 18 May with nearly 15% of the vote, called for a meeting with the top two front-runners. He met pro forma with Tusk’s candidate Rafał Trzaskowski. a radical left-winger posing as a centrist, but the two had nothing in common. By contrast, the conservative Nawrocki, if elected, pledged never to sign into law any new taxes, the EU’s radical ecological program, pro-migrant policies or ratification of Ukraine’s NATO membership. Menzen’s comment: “I will not tell my members how to vote. They should let their conscience be their guide.

Poland’s electoral silence gives voters calm interlude to consider
Polish election campaigns officially end at midnight on Friday, ushering in electoral silence all day Saturday. (Polish elections are always held on Sunday.) Electoral silence is meant to give voters some calm space to think over their choice without the constant pressure and propaganda for which election campaigns are known. During that period, all campaigning including holding rallies, handing out leaflets, or displaying banners and placards promoting any candidates are punishable by fines of up to one million złotys (over $266,000). Critics have questioned the effectiveness of the practice in our digital era, but in Poland tradition still remains important.

Smear campaign continued apace down to pre-election silence
Tusk’s all-out campaign to discredit and vilify conservative presidential hopeful Karol Nawrocki was vigorously carried out to the last permissible minute. No effort was spared to dredge up and highlight real, exaggerated or completely fabricated, unsavory episodes allegedly from the historian’s past. These included allegations that Nawrocki had:

**Hobnobbed in his younger days with ex-convicts and the unsavory clientele of work-out gyms and boxing clubs including many ladies of ill repute;

**As a security guard at the upscale Grand Hotel in the luxury seaside resort of Sopot, he was involved in pimping by providing “prosties” directly to hotel guests in their rooms;

**Had tricked an 80-year-old retiree by promising him life-long care and financial assistance in exchange for his studio apartment, then reneged on his pledge after the oldster disappeared and landed in a public old-age home;

**Nawrocki had been seen placing some unknown substance in his mouth which turned out to be an under-the-lip tobacco product, banned across the EU and legal only in Sweden where it is manufactured; according to the Tusk camp, “its use during televised appearances has raised questions about Nawrocki’s fitness for office.”

Tusk condemns Nawrocki but ignores his own gang-fighting past
The Tusk camp has severely condemned Nawrocki’s youthful hooligan gang-fighting. Recently, Tusk wondered what Nawrocki could tell doctors who had had saved the lives of hooligan victims, and police offices who had been brutally attacked by the violent brawłers. In 2008, during his first term as Poland’s prime minister, Tusk had publicly boasted about his regular involvement in such punch-ups, stressing how fondly he recalled those days. Pre-agreed clashes were held in outlying fields or wooded areas where hundreds of oft-inebriated fans of rival teams came armed with baseball bats, chains, bottles, bricks and other projectiles. That was then as normal and natural as young bear and tiger cubs constantly scrapping and boys grappling with one another after school.

Free (?) World launches anti-populist crusade against Nawrocki
Poland’s Law & Justice-backed presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki had come under widespread international scrutiny and condemnation amid serious allegations linking him to organized crime, neo-Nazi groups, and violent football hooligans. He has also been criticized over controversial incidents such as a scam to take over a senior citizen’s apartment and procuring “prosties” at a hotel where he once worked. Such was the result of Tusk’s smear campaign which had been blindly accepted by the EU, Western officialdom, governments, parliaments, mainstream media, other institutions and the “powers that be” in general.

Nawrocki’s “populism” – a red cape to a bull
Nawrocki is a victim of our deceptive times in which populism is no longer equated with Abraham Lincoln’s “government of, for and by the people,” as eloquently defined in his iconic “Gettysburg Address.” Instead, the term is now used by the “powers that be” as a symbol of ultimate evil. Calling someone a “populist” is the ultimate insult, tantamount to “Nazi,” “Fascist,” “tyrant” or “totalitarian.” That tactic has been enhanced by the practice of retaining familiar political labels which are now devoid of their original meaning. The term “liberal” is widely used but no longer refers to economic liberals nor extreme tolerance and serves as a code-word for today’s effective totalitarian Neo-Marxism with all its Stalin-style censorship and cancel culture. Although officially today’s de rigueur ideology still remains liberal democracy” on paper, it is no longer liberal nor democratic. Whereas America’s Republican Party still espouses basic republican ideals, the “Democratic” Party is democratic in name alone and pursues a hard-left agenda. The traditional, original names are kept around because they are familiar and sound nice.

Nawrocki not anti-Ukrainian – but a “Poland first” patriot?
Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s L&J-backed presidential candidate and, according to many, the country’s next head of state, projects the image of a consummate Polish patriot of the “my country first, last and always” variety. Like nearly all politicians everywhere, he probably believes that politics is mainly about winning power and staying in power as long as possible. At present, the pro-Polish agenda seems the only possible choice in this highly polarized country. By contrast, the opposing political camp, the Tusk-led ruling coalition, espouses a “EU first” philosophy, slathered with a generous helping of just enough patriotic “frosting” (borrowed from L&J)” so as not to alienate the more conservative segments of its electorate.

Latest surveys suggest right-wing resurgence among younger voters
Since the start of the presidential campaign, Tusk’s hand-picked candidate Trzaskowski had enjoyed a narrow advantage over his conservative rival Nawrocki. But the good showing of smaller right-wing parties in the election’s first round seemed to suggest an unexpected right-wing resurgence particularly among younger voters. A political-preference poll carried out by pollster Ipsos before the runoff, for the first time showed both candidates with equal support of 47%. Subsequent surveys by pollster OGB saw Nawrocki clearly moving ahead of his rival with a score of 50.93% to 49.37%, and a Super Express survey showed 47.97% to 45.6%. The Tusk camp was now clearly sweating and clutching at the last shreds of hope. Tusks’ patriot’s march ahead of the runoff had after all attracted three times the following of Nawrocki’s rival demonstration. Maybe it’ll suffice to mobilize female voters, who a few years back let themselves get whipped up into a pro-abortion frenzy, and remind them that Trzaskowski’s the one promoting abortion on demand with no questions asked.

National Bank of Poland 12th in gold reserves
The National Bank of Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski) ranks 12^th amongst the world’s central banks with the largest gold reserves. Its vaults contain at least 510 metric tons of the precious metal which is more than the central banks of Portugal, Great Britain and the European Central Bank. Poland is also in possession of more gold reserves than such euro zone (€) countries as Italy, France, Germany and Spain. Those gold reserves are attributed to NBP chief, Professor Adam Glapiński, appointed to a six-year term by President Andrzej Duda. That fact alone infuriated the spiteful PM Tusk who threatened to put Glapiński before the State Tribunal which adjudicates on political crimes of which no evidence could be found.

Belarusian sentenced to two years for spying on Poland
The Lublin District Court has found 53-year-old Belarusian, named only Nikolai M. under Poland’s identity law, guilty of engaging in espionage activities on behalf of Minsk. It sentenced him to two years and two months in prison for conducting espionage on behalf of Minsk. The same court also fined a Polish national for failing to alert the authorities of the Belarusian’s activity, the PAP Polish Press Agency reported recently. The verdict can still be appealed.

Largest 2025 tender for CPK passenger terminal announced
Poland’s Central Transport Hub (Centralny Port Komunikacyjny = CPK) has announced a competitive dialogue procedure for the selection of a general contractor for the CPK Airport’s passenger terminal. The estimated value of the contract exceeds $1.36 billion. When completed, the CPK costing over $35 billion will be Europe’s biggest and most modern air facility of its kind. Situated in central Poland a mere 25 miles from Warsaw, it will be linked to a high-speed railway network accessible within two hours from every corner of Poland. The huge investment should pay off when the rebuilding of Ukraine gets underway, and a new trans-shipment air canal to Asia is opened, significantly boosting the Polish economy. The only risk factor would seem to be the project’ scheduled 2032 completion date. In our unsettled era, when a full-scale war is raging just beyond the border, a great deal can happen in seven years’ time.

Belarusian sentenced to two years in jail for espionage
A Polish court has sentenced a Belarusian man to two years and two months in prison for spying on behalf of Minsk. The same court also fined a Polish national for failing to alert the authorities of the Belarusian’s activity. The Lublin District Court found the 53-year-old Belarusian, named only as Nikolai M. under Polish privacy law, guilty of conducting espionage activities targeting Poland between 2018 and 2023, reports the Polish Press Agency. The verdict can still be appealed.

BBC to launch Polish-language news service in June
The British Broadcasting Corporation, Britain’s Public Television, regarded by many as the wold’s most reliable news outlet and affectionately known across the UK as The Beeb, has announced the launch of a Polish-language website. The BBC Polska News Service will “deliver independent and impartial news” and “help counter a wave of disinformation in the region,” BBC officials said.” “The new service, called BBC News Polska (“Polska” being the name for Poland in Polish), will go live on 24 June, initially as a one-year pilot project that will be continually reviewed. As well as a dedicated website, it will al so publish content on Facebook and Instagram.”

Polish FM announces info campaign discouraging illegals
In a post on X, (formerly Twitter), Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has announced an information campaign targeting illegal migrants. It is getting underway in countries known for their extreme poverty and desperation – Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Pakistan and Egypt. “Poland is effectively safeguarding its borders. The government is doing its job,” he declared. Prospective illegals, who have sold all their possessions to pay human traffickers to transport them abroad, have an understandable fear of getting sent back to their home countries.