In the last six months, a man with a common profession of historian, hitherto unknown, has been standing out in Poland’s political scene with a surprising victory in the presidential elections.
Karol Nawrock officially assumed the presidency of Poland in a ceremony in Parliament on the 6th. In his inaugural speech, the 42 -year -old historian promised to defend conservative values and made clear the main guidelines of his mandate: “No illegal immigration and not a Poland A and a Poland B”.
The new Polish president was emphatic in saying that he will closely supervise bills and the actions of the coalition government led by the centrist-liberal prime minister Donald Tusk. During the campaign, Nawrock even stated that the elections were a “referendum to dismiss Donald Tusk,” an opponent he has been criticizing for a long time.
The historian, who received support from President Donald Trump and Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in the June elections, promised to oversee the liberal initiatives of the Tusk government, to whom he went from the pulpit on the 6th, warning him that “he expects to be punctually informed” about all his political projects.
The newly deposed president said he will continue to intervene in the judiciary to “return Poland to the path of the rule of law” and that he will refuse to appoint judges “that harm the constitutional order.” He also announced that he will act against “the illegally elected attorney general,” in reference to the current Justice Minister, appointed by Tusk, who is also a Attorney General.
Nawrock is a conservative who advocates traditional and Christian values. He also presents himself as a firm defender of national sovereignty against external impositions, such as the European Union (EU). His decisive victory gives impetus to an advance that has been observed from the right in Europe.
Former boxer, hotel security and historian “persecuted by Putin”
Until last year, when he was supported as a presidential candidate for the Law and Justice (PIS) opposition party, Karol Nawrock was heading the Institute of National Memory (IPN), focused on defending historical narratives related to the country and investigating crimes of Nazi occupation and the communist period.
At the head of the IPN, the historian led efforts to overthrow monuments of the Soviet Red Army in Poland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which displeased Russia, who responded by placing him on a list of wanted, according to Polish media reports.
“Faced with our eyes, history has become a living experience. There is no place in the Polish public space for any celebration of the totalitarian communist regime and its people,” said Nawrockki, quoted by Associated Press.
PhD in Humanity, the new president of Poland also directed the World War II Museum in Gdansk, where he was born. Some of his positions at this time received harsh criticism for his supposed delegitimation of anti -Semitism research in Poland or distorted information about Poles that killed Jews during the Nazi advance.
According to The New York Timeshe reformulated the Gdansk Museum to focus on Polish suffering during the war and has been criticized for minimizing the holocaust, which occurred mainly in Nazi fields in occupied Poland. He wrote or edited seven books, said the newspaper.
Before being a historian and teacher, Nawrocki even worked as a hotel security. During the campaign, the entourage of the newly deposed president of Poland presented him as a modest man, defender of the family and Christian values. A curious information about Nawrock was that he practiced boxing in his youth, a sport that earned him the title of youth category champion at the time.
Another aspect that relates the president’s image to that of an ordinary man is that he was able to obtain a master’s degree in humanities studying at night and working hard during the day, a reality of many citizens, who have come to see him as a leader who understands the people and can generate changes in a political scenario increasingly linked to liberal agenda.
He often publishes photos on his young family’s social networks and images related to the Catholic faith. He also shares images of himself in the gym, fighting boxing or practicing fire.
At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been betting on antagonistic guidelines for conservative values in Polish society, such as the search to legalize abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy.
The historian and teacher, now president, also announced his intention to “return normality” to Polish public schools, promoting “Polish readings, Polish history” and “braking” the diffusion of “LGBT ideology”.
To boost his policy, Nawrocki announced the creation of advice to repair the state system, consisting of an office of employees whose composition will be announced soon and who, according to him, would “include politicians and academics of all ideological circles.”
Favorable to more investments in the army, which is already the largest in Europe
The new president of Poland also made clear his position that he supports more investments in the army, currently the largest in the European Union.
He also signaled that he will continue to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion by providing weapons. Nevertheless, it was not favorable to allow the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in the country.
Controversy
Before becoming president, Karol Nawrocki became involved in some controversies that gained prominence in the local press.
One of them is that the politician said he had only a small apartment in his hometown, Gdansk (north of the country), but was later pressured to admit the possession of a second property, which he acquired in exchange for taking care of a sick neighbor, whom he claimed to have “disinterestedly”, and eventually donated the apartment to charity.
Local press were also released during the elections, photos of the politician with a gang member and other criminals. He denied being close to them.
Another unusual episode involves the publication of a book about the life of a gangster under a pseudonym. Nawrock would have called a television show using his infected voice to recommend the work, but was discovered.
