Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki, the contenders in Poland’s cliffhanger presidential run-off, held rival mass rallies in Warsaw on Sunday in a final push ahead of the June 1 vote. The race has been upended by Trzaskowski’s unexpectedly narrow victory in the first round. The Warsaw mayor, running for Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU Civic Platform party, secured only a two-point lead over Nawrocki, a historian nominated by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) opposition party.
Tusk has campaigned alongside Trzaskowski, even as polling suggests his involvement is increasingly hurting rather than helping his candidate. A poll by SW Research for the pro-government outlet Onet showed nearly 31 per cent of respondents said the prime minister could hurt Trzaskowski’s campaign, while only 21 per cent saw his involvement as beneficial.
On Sunday, Tusk told supporters at the Trzaskowski rally that it was time to use the word “sorry” for his government’s shortcomings, urging voters to cast their ballots for his candidate who the premier said would help him fulfil the promises he made when taking office in 2023.
“I apologise, because you all expected that there would be more, faster, stronger.”
The election has become an informal referendum on Tusk, who returned to after eight years of PiS rule. Tusk has warned that a Nawrocki presidency would weaken Poland’s standing in the EU and jeopardise his reform agenda.
Trzaskowski remains closely tied to Tusk and has shouldered some of the blame for the government’s broken pledges, notably its failure to restore abortion rights severely limited under the PiS administration.
“Trzaskowski is obviously associated with Tusk, and now a large part of voters are simply angry at Tusk’s government,” said Dorota Piontek, a political scientist at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Tusk has acknowledged disappointment with his government, but argues that getting “a yellow card is not a drama” and insists that voters must realise the danger of maintaining the PiS-led blockade of his reform agenda under outgoing President Andrzej Duda, another PiS nominee.
An Ipsos poll released on Friday by state broadcaster TVP showed both candidates tied at 47 per cent. The outcome now largely hinges on the almost 40 per cent of voters who supported other candidates in the first round.
Trzaskowski faces a tougher balancing act. He needs to appeal to far right Confederation supporters wary of PiS’s statist policies as well as to progressive voters disillusioned by Tusk’s government.
Nawrocki, despite personal scandals, has retained significant support among older PiS voters who are particularly loyal to the party’s 75-year-old founder Jarosław Kaczyński — Tusk’s long-standing rival. Kaczyński handpicked Nawrocki as PiS’s nominee for the presidency.
This month Nawrocki came under fierce criticism for not disclosing his acquisition of an apartment from a vulnerable pensioner under allegedly dubious circumstances, but he dismissed the attacks as politically motivated “lies”.
“He [Nawrocki] did better than we thought, especially with this housing scandal,” said Wojciech Szacki, chief political analyst at think-tank Polityka Insight.
The run-off’s kingmaker has become Sławomir Mentzen, the far-right Confederation candidate who finished third in the first round with 14.8 per cent of the votes.
On Thursday, Nawrocki signed an agreement with Mentzen promising that, as president, he would not ratify Ukraine joining Nato — a deal Tusk described as an act of treason.
Trzaskowski also met Mentzen on Saturday, agreeing to some of his demands on taxation but drawing a red line at Ukraine’s Nato membership.
Turnout in the first round was a record 67.3 per cent, driven by high participation from voters aged under 30. However, Szacki of Polityka Insight cautioned that many of these younger voters supported extremist candidates on the left and right who are no longer in the race.
“The candidates of the two main parties have no attractive agenda for young people, so I don’t know if these younger voters will be willing to take part in the second round,” said Szacki.
Tusk claimed on X on Sunday that the pro-Trzaskowski rally drew half a million participants, while organisers of Nawrocki’s rival event estimated that 200,000 attended. Neither number was immediately confirmed by the authorities.
“I’m totally shocked by how close this vote is going to be,” said Malwina Nowosielska, a 30-year IT specialist who held Polish and EU flags at Trzaskowski’s march on Sunday.
“There are a lot of young people who are fed up with the duopoly, but they will eventually understand that this election is important, hopefully for a democratic Poland that is strong in the EU and not a nationalist one.” The past few years have seen a significant rise in the popularity of sustainable living practices, with more and more people making conscious efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and live more environmentally friendly lifestyles. One key aspect of sustainable living is reducing waste, and one simple way to do this is by embracing the concept of zero waste.
Zero waste is a philosophy that encourages individuals to minimize the amount of waste they produce by reusing, recycling, and composting as much as possible. This means avoiding single-use items like plastic bags and bottles, opting for reusable alternatives instead. It also involves being mindful of the products we buy and the packaging they come in, choosing items with minimal or compostable packaging whenever possible.
One of the main benefits of zero waste living is the positive impact it can have on the environment. By reducing the amount of waste we produce, we can help to minimize the amount of trash that ends up in landfills, which can take hundreds of years to decompose and can release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Additionally, by choosing products that are made from sustainable materials and are produced in an environmentally friendly way, we can help to reduce our overall carbon footprint.
Another benefit of zero waste living is the potential cost savings. By investing in reusable items like water bottles, shopping bags, and food containers, we can avoid the need to constantly buy disposable products, which can add up over time. Additionally, buying products in bulk and shopping at local farmers markets or bulk stores can help to reduce packaging waste and save money in the long run.
While zero waste living may seem daunting at first, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach. Making small changes to reduce waste in your daily life can still have a significant impact. Start by taking stock of the items you use on a daily basis and look for ways to replace them with reusable alternatives. For example, swap out disposable paper towels for cloth towels, or invest in a reusable coffee cup instead of using disposable cups from coffee shops.
In conclusion, embracing a zero waste lifestyle is a simple yet effective way to reduce our environmental impact and live more sustainably. By making small changes to minimize waste in our daily lives, we can help to protect the planet for future generations and create a more sustainable future for all.
