Poland’s Sikorski: Nationalist election win won’t derail fight against Russia

WARSAW — Poland won't back away from its support for Ukraine or its growing role in the EU despite the government's defeat in last week's presidential election, the country's top diplomat told POLITICO on Monday.

"The presidency continues in the hands of the opposition," center-right Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said following populist-nationalist Karol Nawrocki's victory, but insisted common ground could be found on key geopolitical issues.

"President Nawrocki comes from the [Law and Justice Party] side of the Polish political divide and I remind you that the majority of defense contracts that we are now financing were signed under the previous government, so I expect him to be pro-defense," the veteran Polish politician said. "He clearly agrees with the national consensus that Russia has to be deterred."

According to Sikorski, a populist in a top job could even help smooth relations with U.S. President Donald Trump and Kremlin-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

"They claim to have better relations with the White House. Indeed, President Nawrocki got endorsed with a photograph," Sikorski said, pointing to a pre-election photo-op held with Trump in the Oval Office. "Now, we can play on two pianos at the same time."

Nawrocki, a political newcomer who secured the support of the former governing Law and Justice Party (PiS), was also backed by senior Trump administration officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who publicly called on Poles to vote him into office.

He takes over the presidency from Andrzej Duda, a PiS politician who used the largely ceremonial role to hold up planned judicial reforms and other constitutional changes proposed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's center-right government.

Sikorski added that if Nawrocki "can persuade Viktor Orbán that Ukraine should be supported, that these vetoes [on Kyiv's accession to the EU] should be lifted, that Ukraine should be integrated into the West, we would be very pleased and we would support the president-elect in this issue."

Nawrocki's win over the governing party's centrist candidate Rafał Trzaskowski last week created a crisis for Tusk, who has called a confidence vote in parliament for Wednesday in a bid to reassert his authority.

"I am confident that the confidence vote will be overwhelmingly for the government," Sikorski said.