Morning opening: Constructing as much as Tremendous Sunday
Jakub Krupa
Good morning, or dzień dobry, from Warsaw, Poland, the place 13 presidential candidates are up very early to profit from the final day earlier than the “electoral silence” kicks in forward of this Sunday’s first spherical of the presidential vote.
With main contenders hitting the marketing campaign path round 6am native time in the present day, it’s going to be a lengthy day forward for them as they hope to persuade some undecided voters in what appears like an more and more tight race.
The frontrunner, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, popped in to a bakery in Myśliborz, whereas his predominant rival, conservative Karol Nawrocki, went to say hello to miners. You get the thought.
I’ve spent the previous couple of days right here speaking to voters and attending rallies by candidates starting from far-left to far-right, and I’ll deliver you a few of what I noticed and heard in the present day and over the weekend.
The candidates have solely till midnight to marketing campaign, they usually wish to make each minute depend.
I’ll deliver you extra updates on this all through the day, as we construct as much as Tremendous Sunday with elections not solely in Poland, with Portugal set to decide on its subsequent authorities and a tremendous shut presidential run-off in Romania.
However we may even keep watch over the European Political Group summit in Tirana, Albania, the place key European leaders are anticipated to speak about the way forward for the continent. Britain’s Starmer, Germany’s Merz, France’s Macron, Turkey’s Erdogan, Poland’s Tusk, and EU’s von der Leyen and Costa are all there.
I’ll deliver you all the important thing updates all through the day.
It’s Friday, 16 Could 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Stay.
Good morning.
Key occasions
Meet the important thing gamers – Poland
Let’s take a fast take a look at the newest polls in Poland, specializing in the 2 main contenders – centrist Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski of the ruling Civic Coalition and his conservative rival, Karol Nawrocki, formally unbiased, however endorsed by the populist-nationalist Regulation and Justice celebration that ran the nation between 2015 and 2023.
Bear in mind: it’s the primary spherical vote this Sunday, which means that until somebody will get over 50% (which they received’t get), the highest two undergo to the run-off in two weeks’ time.
Very unusually for Poland, it appears seemingly they may come at below 60% in mixed vote share this yr – means beneath the 70-80% in earlier elections, exhibiting the degrees of frustration with each events that dominated the nation’s political panorama over the past 20 years.
This creates extra space for different candidates, together with libertarian far-right Confederation’s Sławomir Mentzen, who even briefly challenged Nawrocki to second, however has pale in the previous couple of weeks.
Outdoors the highest 3, you will notice an in depth battle for the fourth between the surging Adrian Zandberg of the leftist Razem (Collectively) celebration, centre-right Szymon Hołownia of Poland 2025, and Magdalena Biejat of the New Left (Nowa Lewica), the left wing of the ruling coalition. They’re all polling someplace between 5 and eight%, and their endorsements might play a major position within the run-off.
The complete 13-name lineup additionally options some fringe figures comparable to a nationalist far-right chief Grzegorz Braun, below probe for placing out Hanukah candles within the Polish parliament with a hearth extinguisher and a post-communist left veteran Joanna Senyszyn.
Ukraine dominates headlines in Europe
Earlier than we dive into Poland, Portugal and Romania any additional, let me deliver you some headline updates from throughout Europe, with numerous comprehensible concentrate on Ukraine –
-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has despatched a delegation to Istanbul for peace talks with Russia, paving the way in which for the primary direct negotiations between the 2 international locations since March 2022 – though Washington has warned that no breakthrough is probably going until Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agree to fulfill.
-
EU overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas stated this morning that Russia was “clearly” not working for peace with Ukraine, as she urged leaders attending the European Political Group summit in Albania to ramp up the strain on Russia to take care of its “political isolation.”
You’ll be able to comply with our separate stay weblog on Ukraine right here:
Morning opening: Constructing as much as Tremendous Sunday
Jakub Krupa
Good morning, or dzień dobry, from Warsaw, Poland, the place 13 presidential candidates are up very early to profit from the final day earlier than the “electoral silence” kicks in forward of this Sunday’s first spherical of the presidential vote.
With main contenders hitting the marketing campaign path round 6am native time in the present day, it’s going to be a lengthy day forward for them as they hope to persuade some undecided voters in what appears like an more and more tight race.
The frontrunner, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, popped in to a bakery in Myśliborz, whereas his predominant rival, conservative Karol Nawrocki, went to say hello to miners. You get the thought.
I’ve spent the previous couple of days right here speaking to voters and attending rallies by candidates starting from far-left to far-right, and I’ll deliver you a few of what I noticed and heard in the present day and over the weekend.
The candidates have solely till midnight to marketing campaign, they usually wish to make each minute depend.
I’ll deliver you extra updates on this all through the day, as we construct as much as Tremendous Sunday with elections not solely in Poland, with Portugal set to decide on its subsequent authorities and a tremendous shut presidential run-off in Romania.
However we may even keep watch over the European Political Group summit in Tirana, Albania, the place key European leaders are anticipated to speak about the way forward for the continent. Britain’s Starmer, Germany’s Merz, France’s Macron, Turkey’s Erdogan, Poland’s Tusk, and EU’s von der Leyen and Costa are all there.
I’ll deliver you all the important thing updates all through the day.
It’s Friday, 16 Could 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Stay.
Good morning.
