The victory of the right-wing president is expected to increase tensions between Warsaw and Brussels • Criticism of media conduct in elections • Duda proposed adding anti-Semites to government

There are growing fears throughout the EU about the escalation of tensions between Warsaw and Brussels following the re-election of conservative Polish President Andrzej Duda. Duda, who won yesterday's presidential election by a slight two percent advantage over his liberal rival, Warsaw Mayor Raphael Czeskowski, is expected to support Poland's ruling party, the Law and Justice Party, to carry out further reforms in the judiciary. 

Election rally of President Duda in Poland // Photo: Reuters

The opposition in Poland and the European Union claim that the planned reforms - including the imposition of sanctions on judges who will involve politics in their decisions - will seriously undermine the principle of separation of powers. Concern was also expressed across Europe yesterday about the status of members of the LGBT community in Poland, as during the presidential election campaign Duda pledged not to support legislation that would allow same-sex marriage. International organizations, including the European Organization for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, have criticized the Polish Public Broadcasting Authority for being a "tool in Duda's election campaign." 

Duda's victory is considered a political blow to the European Union, and the union's leadership duo - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron - hoped for Duda's replacement. Meanwhile, only the conservative Hungarian government has welcomed Duda's election. In Budapest, they noted, "the international liberal current has tried everything to overthrow Duda, but the center-right has won again." Duda's victory is in addition to the victory of the Conservative right in the recent elections in Croatia.

The opponent acknowledged his loss - but refused to shake hands with the president

Duda won slightly more than 51% of the vote compared to about 49% who voted for the opposition candidate. Tchaikovsky yesterday congratulated Duda on his victory, but refused to heed the president-elect's initiative to shake hands at the presidential palace as a sign of reconciliation and calm following a turbulent and passionate election campaign.

Polish newspapers crowned the "Battle of Poland" election because of the close race between the two candidates, which represent completely different worldviews. Duda, a candidate for the right-wing ruling Law and Justice Party, also addressed the far-right electorate during the election campaign in an attempt to secure his re-election. Duda, who is close to US President Donald Trump, proposed forming a broad government after the election that would include far-right parties, including the anti-Semitic Confederation Party. 

The corona plague, which caused a severe recession in Poland, did not hurt the turnout in the election, which was the highest in the presidential election since the end of the communist regime. This was mainly due to the maximum mobilization of supporters of the opposition parties, who saw the election as an opportunity to "save liberal democracy" in Poland from conservative rule. The president of Poland has mostly symbolic powers, but he can delay and approve laws passed in parliament. The opposition candidate for the presidency, Czeskowski, pledged to oppose the government's plans for judicial reforms and to strengthen Poland's relations with the European Union.