Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.15-220605/https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/03/15/in-poland-the-far-right-on-the-offensive-two-months-ahead-of-the-presidential-election_6739194_4.html

With two months to go before the presidential election, polls show a rise in popularity for Mentzen, who is taking advantage of the weakness of his rival on the right, Karol Nawrocki, chosen by the PiS, but a newcomer to politics and little known to the general public. According to a Pollster Institute survey conducted from March 7 to 9, the Konfederacja candidate would narrowly beat his PiS opponent in the first round (22% vs. 21%) and could therefore face Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski in the second round. Backed by Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO), Trzaskowski is credited with 37% of the vote in the first round. In the 2020 presidential election, Konfederacja candidate Krzysztof Bosak obtained 6.8%.

“I remain cautious with polls,” said political scientist Radoslaw Marzecki, professor at the University of the National Education Commission, Krakow. In the run-up to the 2023 parliamentary elections, Konfederacja had seen a surge in voting intentions, nearly reaching 15% in July 2023, only to secure just 7% at the ballot box three months later.

The far-right party made a real breakthrough in the June 2024 European elections, securing 12%. Of its six MEPs, three have joined the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group, where they sit alongside members of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Meanwhile, two sit with the Rassemblement National in the Patriots for Europe group, and one is in the non-attached group.