While the Polish Church remains a totemic force in Polish society, the relationship between parties and religion in post-communist Poland is a complex one.

YouTube video by TALKING WITH TVP WORLD

YouTube video by TALKING WITH TVP WORLD

The political fall-out from the recent Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace passed over quickly suggesting that most Poles have normalised the fact that there is an armed conflict on their border. The incident also shows how the right-wing President and opposition’s close political alignment with US President Donald Trump is potentially a double-edged sword. A pivotal moment? On the night of September 9th-10th, in what the Polish government and its NATO allies condemned as an unprecedented act of aggression, an estimated twenty Russian military drones were recorded repeatedly violating the country’s airspace.

Embracing an active model of the presidency, including in the foreign policy sphere, puts pressure on Poland’s new right-wing head of state to fulfill his election promise of strengthening the country’s relations with the Trump administration. But he has secured a significant political success following the US President’s pledge to maintain, and even expand, America’s military presence in Poland. An active President…

YouTube video by TALKING WITH TVP WORLD

Although not involved in day-to-day governance, Poland’s new right-wing President will de-stabilise, and act as the centre of resistance to, the liberal-centrist coalition government, severely complicating its institutional and legislative reform programme. He could also limit its room for manoeuvre on the international stage and help to shake-up Poland’s EU trajectory and trans-Atlantic ties. De-stabilising the Tusk government On August 6th, historian Karol Nawrocki was sworn in as President of Poland for a five-year term.

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The results of the recent Polish presidential election could bring changes to the relationship between Ukraine and Poland. The new conservative Polish

The right-wing opposition candidate’s presidential election victory has radically changed Poland’s political dynamics, scuppering the liberal-centrist coalition government’s plans to re-set its reform agenda. However, there is no immediate prospect of a change of prime minister or government and the coalition is likely to survive until the next election, albeit considerably weakened and divided. Presidential election is a huge blow…

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Professor of Politics at the University of Sussex, Aleks Szczerbiak, discusses Poland's new temporary immigration rules on its border with Germany and Lithuania.

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The stakes for this year’s Polish presidential election were high.

Aleks Szczerbiak analyses the results of the recent Polish presidential election which saw right-wing candidate Karol Nawrocki narrowly beat centrist Rafał Trzaskowski with 50.89 percent and 49.11 per...

My 25-minute video blog on the domestic politics and foreign policy implications of Karol Nawrocki's victory in Poland's presidential election :

Poland's presidential election comes to a close and Dior announces their new creative director.

A victory for the liberal-centrist ruling party’s candidate will remove the last obstacle to implementation of the government’s institutional reform and elite replacement project. If the right-wing opposition candidate wins the government faces continued resistance from the President and will become more unstable, but an early parliamentary election is unlikely. A critical election On June 1st, Poland holds a presidential election run-off between Rafał Trzaskowski - Warsaw mayor and deputy leader of the liberal-centrist Civic Platform (PO), Poland’s main governing party - and Karol Nawrocki, head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) historical research institute who is supported by the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) grouping, the ruling party between 2015-23.

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An emotionally-charged apartment scandal has stymied the campaign momentum of the right-wing opposition presidential challenger to the liberal-centrist ruling party’s candidate, who remains the favourite to win. But the election outcome is likely to depend on the extent to which it becomes a referendum on an unpopular government, and how the third placed candidate’s votes transfer. A crucial election On May 18th Poland will hold a presidential election, with a second round run-off a fortnight later between the top two candidates if none secures more than 50%.