Karol Nawrocki, is a historian born in 1983 in Gdańsk who recently reached politics in a trajectory similar to that of his predecessor, Andrzej Doubt, also nationalist and conservative.
Nawrocki grew up in a working family – his father was a worker in history, and his mother, with an inclination for art and literature, worked as a binding machine – and attributes to these influences, together with the practice of boxing and football, the formation of his personality.
While performing part -time jobs, he completed his higher education and obtained a master’s degree in history and a doctorate in humanities at the University of Gdańsk. He also studied postgraduate studies in business administration and management.
Before his presidential candidacy, Nawocki directed the National Memory Institute (IPN) between 2009 and 2017 and was director of the Museum of the Second World War of GDAńSK from 2017 to 2021.
During his management at the IPN, he actively promoted the elimination of monuments to the Red Army in Poland, acts that accompanied with a significant media coverage and that earned him to be included in the list of people sought by the Russian Federation.
He is married and has three children, one of a previous relationship of his wife.
One of his great passions is boxing, which he practiced in his youth, and gained heavyweight pomerania championship.
Although he presented himself as an independent candidate, he had the explicit support of the National-Consider Law and Justice (PIS), which ruled between 2015 and 2023, and previously 2005 and 2007.
Ideology and political proposals
Nawrocki is defined as a patriot, of conservative and nationalist ideology, with emphasis on traditional values and national sovereignty against the European Union (EU), which specifies in its motto: “First Poland, first the Poles”.
Regarding social issues, defends the “traditional family and Christian identity” in opposition to progressive policies such as abortion and rights of the LGBTIQ+collective.
In migratory matters, advocates the total rejection of illegal immigration, denounces the EU migratory pact and proposes the construction of deportation centers.
In foreign policy, prioritizes the strategic alliance with the United States, especially under Donald Trump, whom he considers the great guarantor of European regional security and whose government gave him his support in the presidential elections held in the second round on Sunday.
The nationalist maintains a skeptical position towards the integration of Ukraine into the EU and NATO until historical disputes are resolved with his country.
Nawrocki criticizes Donald Tusk’s government for being too condescending with Brussels and Berlin, and blames the “European elites” of war in Ukraine.
In the field of justice, it raises a mixed system of election for the National Council of the Judiciary and the possibility of convening a national referendum on judicial reform if a political agreement is not reached before February 2026.
In the economy, it proposes VAT reduction, tax exemption for families with two or more annual children and income below 35,000 euros, keep Złoty as national currency and reduction in domestic energy prices maintaining the use of coal.
Controversies and supports
The purchase of an apartment in Gdańsk in exchange for care and financial aid to an old man who subsequently ended in a beneficial home is one of the various controversies who have marked his campaign.
He has also faced criticism for alleged links with criminals in his youth, something that he blames to his security guard era and educational activities in IPN prisons.
His supporters describe him as an authentic, patriot and worker man, sensitive to the needs of others and highlight his commitment to historical truth and his religious faith.
Its main support comes from conservative voters and from the Rural Poland, with an electoral base that overlaps with the extreme right.
Nawrocki appeared to the elections as a “civic candidate” and a “outside the system”, someone capable of ending the “civil war” that, according to him, divides the country, which has a government of liberal coalition with a reformist agenda.
