Polish President Andrzej Duda has won five more years in power on a socially conservative, religious platform in a closely fought election that is likely to deepen Warsaw’s isolation in the European Union.
Nearly final results from Sunday’s presidential election runoff showed Duda, 48, on over 51 per cent, giving him an unassailable lead over liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who won almost 49 per cent of the votes, the National Election Commission said.
A devout Catholic, Duda is allied with the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, and his victory reinforces the government’s mandate to pursue reforms of the judiciary and media which the European Commission says subvert democratic standards.
Duda has largely backed the PiS policies.
His victory makes renewed confrontation with the European Commission likely as the EU executive tries to deal with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising nationalism across the 27-member bloc.
