Radical-right historian's triumph will be felt across EU and threaten Warsaw's place at the top table

The victory margin of the nationalist Karol Nawrocki in Poland's presidential elections may have been wafer thin, but it marks an upheaval in the country's political landscape whose impact will be felt across the EU.

- Jon Henley

Backed by the previous ruling conservative Law & Justice (PiS) party and by Donald Trump, Nawrocki, a radical-right historian, defeated his liberal rival, the Warsaw mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, by 50.89% to 49.11%.

His win means PiS retains a size-11 boot in the door of Poland's politics that could seriously destabilise the coalition government of the centre-right prime minister, Donald Tusk, and threaten the country's newfound place at Europe's top table.

Tusk's election in 2023 brought to an end eight years of PiS rule and signalled Poland's return to the European fold. Over the past two years, the bloc's sixth-biggest economy has become a key player at the heart of mainstream European policymaking.

Nawrocki's victory hands him a presidential veto that will make it difficult for Tusk's government to pass promised legislation rolling back the judicial and other changes implemented by PiS that led to repeated clashes with Brussels.