Romania Chose A Pro-Democracy Future – Will Poland Follow The Same Path?

-OpEd-

WARSAW — Two weeks ago in Romania everything seemed to indicate defeat. And yet: those who side with democracy managed to mobilize and win. Will we Poles be able to do the same in Sunday’s presidential election?

We are two strategically located countries in Central Europe facing a similar challenge: to stop populist politicians who intend to divert them from the path to the West.

Karol Nawrocki, the candidate supported by Poland’s populist Law and Justice party (PiS), and Romania’s nationalist candidate George Simion share a suspiciously similar life story and radicalism.

Simion was defeated. If instead Nawrocki scores an election victory, it would be a blow to a united Europe and Ukraine’s resistance against the Russian invasion. The Kremlin, which is trying to divide Europeans, would be happy about that, of course.

Though the stakes are high in Poland, Romanians were actually in a worse situation. The first round of the presidential elections in November was the source of a major controversy. The first round’s unexpected winner Calin Georgescu owed his result to an externally sponsored — most likely by Russia — social media campaign. That prompted the country’s Constitutional Court to invalidate the result, which set off major nationwide protests.

A Romanian miracle?

It seemed that in the face of such embarrassment, nothing would stop the far right from marching toward power, even if Georgescu wasn’t the candidate. Fellow populist Simion stepped in, and won the first round with 40% support. Certain of victory, he set off on a tour of Europe, speaking at Nawrocki’s rally, among other places, and Polish President Andrzej Duda received him at an audience.

And yet, thanks to the huge mobilization — and the Romanians’ sense of responsibility — the mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, won the presidential election, winning with a comfortable six percentage point margin over Simion.

The people simply woke up, democracy worked.

While we were watching in disbelief the results of the first round of the Polish presidential elections — particularly the high result of fascist Grzegorz Braun or the low ratings of left-wing candidates — Dan celebrated victory with thousands of his supporters in the center of Bucharest.

Did a miracle happen in Romania? No, the people simply woke up, democracy worked. People who had not voted before went to the polls. The turnout was twice as high as in November.

Toward Europe or the Kremlin?

Romania is not yet a welfare state, it is not yet a model democracy, it is still undergoing a transformation that is both uncomfortable and expensive. But the citizens of the nation understood immediately what it would mean to turn away from the European path, especially when the Russians are lurking just outside, held back from taking over the entire Black Sea region by the courageous Ukrainian resistance.

Worldcrunch 🗞 Extra!

Know more • Poland is currently preparing for the second round of the presidential election on June 1, which is set to be a tight contest between Warsaw’s liberal Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski and PiS-backed Karol Nawrocki. While Trzaskowski, supported by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, beat his nationalist opponent by 2 percentage points in the first ballot on May 18, the latest polls show a very tight race.

In Poland, the president doesn’t run the government but can veto legislation passed by the parliament. Tusk was elected in 2023 on a promise to undo changes made by the nationalist PiS-led government, but key government initiatives have been blocked the past two years by nationalist President Andrzej Duda, who is not eligible to run again.

In the case of a victory for Nawrocki, Poland’s political deadlock would likely extend and fresh parliamentary elections may have to be called. — Anne-Sophie Goninet (read more about the Worldcrunch method here)

Poland has come much further along the European path than Romania. And we ourselves witnessed a great mobilization for democracy in the 2023 parliamentary elections that knocked the populist PiS party from power.

Now, we have to repeat that, even if we feel that the government of that 2023 election has not delivered on many promises, and has started to slip.

We must remember that we are not condemned to PiS.

It is clear that in Poland under Karol Nawrocki’s rule, anti-democratic policies we are all too familiar with will return. There will be no change in the abortion law or civil partnerships, no discussions with citizens, and no respect for minorities.

Defining “Polishness”

Already today, Professor Andrzej Zybertowicz, the mastermind behind the rise of PiS, says that 40% of voters, i.e. those who did not support Nawrocki, Mentzen and Braun, have “resigned from Polishness.”

He seems to believe that the question of who is a Pole should be decided by his party. And if it returns to power, our nation will return to dismantling democracy and eventually leaving the European Union.

Poland is once again facing a historic choice. But we must remember that we are not condemned to PiS. We can defend ourselves against populism just like the Romanians.