“Russia is cheering,” Tusk wrote on social‑media platform X, posting a photo from a weekend rally in the southern Polish city of Zabrze where Simion urged voters to choose Nawrocki in Sunday’s first‑round ballot.
“Nawrocki and his pro‑Russian Romanian counterpart George Simion on one stage, five days before elections in Poland and Romania. Everything is clear,” Tusk added.
Simion, 38, heads the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), a nationalist party that criticizes the EU and NATO and has faced questions over alleged Moscow links—allegations he rejects.
He replied to Tusk by reposting an old photo of the Polish premier shaking hands with Vladimir Putin, captioning it: “In this photo is Putin’s man in Poland. The whole of Europe knows it. Nobody believes your lies and hypocrisy anymore, Donald!”
Nationalist alliance on display
Addressing several hundred supporters in Zabrze, Simion declared in Polish: “Future president of Romania, future president of Poland,” as he embraced Nawrocki, 44, a historian and former head of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance.
Both men denounced what they called Brussels’ drive to turn member states into EU “provinces” and vowed to defend “Christian family values.”
Nawrocki, the Confederation party’s candidate, is polling in the high teens and hopes to reach a probable 1 June runoff against centrist front‑runner Rafał Trzaskowski. Poland votes in its first round on 18 May.
In Romania, Simion topped the 5 May first round with about 27 % of the vote and faces pro‑European Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in a 25 May runoff.
If elected, he would become the EU’s first far‑right head of state since Austria’s Jörg Haider nearly did so in 2016.
EU jittery over Moscow influence
Brussels views AUR with unease, citing the party’s hostile rhetoric toward the bloc and past appearances by Simion at rallies that included pro‑Kremlin activists.
AUR denies Russian ties and called the criticism “globalist propaganda.”
(jh)
Source: Polskie Radio 24, RMF24