Supporters of centrist contender Rafał Trzaskowski and conservative Karol Nawrocki marched through the capital in parallel processions—both peaceful, both loud, and both seen as a show of strength ahead of the decisive June 1 vote.
Trzaskowski’s "Great Patriots’ March," supported by the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), began at Bankowy Square and proceeded down Marszałkowska Street to Konstytucji Square in the city center.
On roughly parallel streets but moving in the opposite direction, Nawrocki’s "Great March for Poland" started at the de Gaulle Roundabout and ended at Castle Square, state news agency PAP reported.
According to Warsaw police, both gatherings concluded without serious incidents.
Crowds waved Polish flags and chanted slogans such as “We will win,” “Here is Poland,” and “The force is with us.”
City officials estimated around 140,000 people attended Trzaskowski's march, compared to 50,000 for Nawrocki's rally, backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The two events drew top figures from both political camps. Trzaskowski was joined by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, lower-house Speaker Szymon Hołownia, and Deputy Senate Speaker Magdalena Biejat.
Romania’s President-elect Nicușor Dan also joined the rally. He pledged close cooperation with Trzaskowski and Tusk, saying: “People in both our countries have chosen honesty, lawfulness and European integration over isolationism and Russian influence.”
Nicusor Dan, the technocratic mayor of Bucharest, won Romania's May 19 presidential runoff, with 53.6 percent of the vote, defeating pro-Russian, right-wing candidate George Simion, who received 46.4 percent.
Speaking to his supporters, Trzaskowski said Poland stands at a historic moment.
“We’ve never been stronger, never more confident," he told the crowd. "These elections are about putting people first — about realizing our aspirations, with only the sky as the limit."
He closed his speech with a warning: “This choice will shape the lives of your children and grandchildren. It’s time for truth and decency to win. There will be no second chances — choose wisely.”
Tusk addressed the crowd with stark language, warning that “gangsters” were trying to seize power. He claimed PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński selected Nawrocki as a candidate to paralyze the state.
“This is not about parties or parliament. Poland needs a president who will unite, not divide,” Tusk said, while also apologizing for the slow pace of reform, asking voters to “be the source of energy we need to finish what we started.”
Nawrocki’s march featured Kaczyński and senior party figures.
Kaczyński framed the election as a battle for sovereignty, criticizing the European Green Deal and pledging to restart large-scale infrastructure projects.
“Karol Nawrocki stands for development and against cultural revolution,” Kaczyński told reporters. "He believes a man is a man, and a woman is a woman," he added.
Nawrocki himself accused Trzaskowski’s camp of “micromania,” a term he used to mock what he sees as their vision of a shrinking, regulated Poland.
Numerous other voices joined the rallying cry for Trzaskowski.
Education Minister Barbara Nowacka urged voters to “choose decency and security.”
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, EU Affairs Minister Adam Szłapka and leftist politician Joanna Senyszyn, who won 1.4 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, also voiced support.
Senyszyn handed her trademark red beads to Trzaskowski’s wife, Małgorzata Trzaskowska, who took the stage to speak about women’s rights: “My husband has always defended women’s rights and always will. Let’s go vote and move Poland forward.”
The second round of the presidential election is set for June 1. With polls showing the race neck-and-neck—a May 23 Ipsos survey for broadcaster TVP Info showed both candidates at 47 percent—the final days of the campaign are shaping up to be fiercely contested.
Around 6 percent of voters remain undecided, according to the Ipsos poll.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP