Trump-backed Populist conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland's presidential election
June 2 (UPI) -- Karol Nawrocki, a populist conservative backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has won Poland's presidential runoff election, according to official results released Monday.
Eyes across the country, Europe and even North America were watching the race in Poland, where the presidency is a somewhat symbolic position -- especially compared to the prime minister and their executive powers -- but one that does come with veto authority.
The election of Nawrocki also suggests a political shift in the deeply divided nation.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Kazimierz Trzaskowski -- of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party -- had narrowly beaten Nawrocki, a conservative historian who ran as an independent, in the first round of voting on May 18, but failed to gain a majority of the votes to win the presidency outright.
In Sunday's runoff, the roles were reversed, and it was Nawrocki who secured the narrow victory. According to official results, Nawrocki, 42, won 50.89% of the vote. Trzaskowski, 53, received 49.11%.
Of the 20.8 million cast votes -- representing 71.6% of Poland's population -- nearly 37,000 votes separated the two candidates.
Nawrocki was backed by the nationalist opposition Law and Justice party.
This is a developing story.
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