POLAND: Ballot Recount & more – 19th June 2025

Witam from BA! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 19th of June twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s start off with internal affairs. On Friday, the 13th, the Supreme Court announced a recount of ballots at thirteen polling stations after receiving over 100 complaints about problems in the second round of the presidential elections.

The recount will take place in several cities, including Kraków in the south, Gdańsk in the north, and areas near the capital. The court wants to determine whether mistakes like assigning votes to Karol Nawrocki from the Law and Justice party when they were meant for Rafał Trzaskowski from the Civic Platform were honest errors or deliberate manipulation.

European courts and Poland’s current government questioned the independence of the court panel handling the case, saying that the previous Law and Justice government set it up in a way that could compromise its impartiality. The Supreme Court will decide whether the election was valid by the 2nd of July.

On the next day, Rzeczpospolita, a major Polish daily newspaper focused on politics, reported that the Internal Security Agency is investigating a Polish website used to check voter certificates during the presidential election to help prevent multiple voting. The Law and Justice Party supported the site, but the election commission didn’t officially approve it since it wasn’t an authorized tool.

The investigation showed that a company in Iceland hosted the website, while a Polish firm registered its domain. The site also listed the Law and Justice Party as the data manager, raising concerns about possible political involvement.

PM Tusk said the Internal Security Agency filed a complaint to the prosecutors, who are now looking into whether the site interfered with the election or misused personal data.

Still on the presidential elections, on Monday, the 16th, prosecutors in Gdańsk started an investigation into Karol Nawrocki, the president-elect, regarding his purchase of a small apartment from an elderly man.

The case began in early May, before the presidential election, after a senator, the mayor of Gdańsk, and a private citizen filed complaints saying that Nawrocki promised an elderly man payment and care in exchange for an apartment, but took the property without keeping those promises.

Authorities have collected documents from courts and social services and plan to interview witnesses as the investigation continues. If found guilty, Nawrocki could face six months to eight years in prison.

Meanwhile, Poland’s cooperation with the EU is hitting some bumps, as on Wednesday, the 18th, the European Commission took Poland to the EU Court of Justice over two big issues.

First, the Commission said that neither people nor environmental groups in Poland can sue the government or local officials about air pollution, even though they should be able to do so when pollution goes over the limits.

Second, Poland still hasn’t followed new EU rules to make drinking water safer, like cutting down on microplastics and other harmful microelements.

If the court agrees with the Commission, Poland might have to pay fines.

On a positive note, on Monday, the 16th, Dariusz Klimczak, the Infrastructure Minister, along with Michał Fijoł, the CEO of LOT Polish Airlines, announced at an air show near Paris, that Airbus, a leading European aerospace company that designs commercial airplanes, will supply forty new planes to the airline starting in twenty twenty-seven. LOT can also choose to buy forty-four more planes later as a part of the same deal, which would nearly double the size of their current fleet.

This deal marks a big shift since LOT mainly uses Embraer and Boeing planes. Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Deputy Prime Minister, called it the largest contract in LOT’s history, and PM Tusk said it shows Poland is becoming a key player in European air travel.

Next up, some updates on national security, as on Friday, the 13th, a Russian spy plane briefly crossed into Polish airspace over the Baltic Sea, flying about two kilometers into it before turning back. Poland’s military said it sent two British fighter jets that are part of a NATO mission in Poland to intercept the plane.

After the jets approached, the Russian plane left. Poland’s military said this was another sign that Russia was testing NATO’s alertness, just like on the 24th of May, when Polish jets intercepted a Russian attack jet flying dangerously over nearby waters.

NATO is doing extra patrols on its eastern side, and with the war in Ukraine still going on, the situation is quite tense in the region. NATO is now investigating both incidents.

Also on Friday, Polish prosecutors charged a twenty-five-year-old soldier for breaking rules on using his gun after he fired twelve shots near the Poland–Belarus border on the 25th of March, twenty twenty-four.

He opened fire at a group of illegal migrants who had just crossed into Poland, while Border Guard officers and other soldiers were nearby. Security footage showed that nine shots missed and three ricocheted, while the bullet tests proved all were strong enough to seriously injure or kill.

In Poland, soldiers are only allowed to fire warning shots to raise the alarm or call for help but not to scare people or stop them.

If found guilty, the soldier could face up to three years in prison.

On another note, on Wednesday, the 18th, the Foreign Ministry announced that it successfully evacuated 130 Polish citizens from Israel via Egypt because of the recent military strikes between Israel and Iran.

The second evacuation flight, carrying around sixty Polish citizens, will arrive from Jordan via a more accessible route.

Fewer people wanted to leave than expected, so the Foreign Ministry scaled down the plan and decided the second flight would be carried out by a military plane instead of a chartered one.

Also, some Polish diplomats in Iran who don’t have any urgent work right now will head to the Azerbaijani border and leave through Baku.

A few Poles have already left Iran on their own through Armenia and Turkey.

Back to the domestic front, on Saturday, the 14th, the government banned Grzegorz Braun, the leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown party and a recent presidential candidate, after he tore down an LGBTQ+ exhibition in the Sejm on the 12th of June.

Szymon Hołownia, the parliament Speaker, called it hooliganism and ordered guards to escort Braun out. After the incident, he changed the rules of the Sejm so security can now physically intervene and stop MPs if they cause trouble or damage.

As a result, Braun can no longer take part in parliamentary sessions and debates, but he still keeps his seat and can work outside the chamber. He has had legal trouble before, including losing his immunity for an antisemitic stunt and trying to arrest a doctor who performed a legal abortion.

In other news, on Wednesday, the 18th, Michał Kołodziejczak, the Deputy Agriculture Minister, resigned because he was frustrated with the ministry’s slow pace, bureaucratic chaos, and failure to tackle real problems farmers face like the lack of modern farming techniques, poor rural roads, limited services and internet, low incomes, and tough market conditions.

Kołodziejczak, who’s also a farmer and founder of the agrarian political movement Agrounia, said the ministry has no clear plan and isn’t keeping up with how fast rural areas are changing.

He also said he couldn’t continue supporting a government that’s out of touch with what farmers really need.

And to wrap up this edition, some cultural updates. On Thursday, the 12th, Poland’s biggest and oldest photography festival kicked off its twenty-fourth edition in Łódź, in the central region, running until the 22nd of June.

The festival opened with nineteen exhibitions across the city and will close with a concert blending African beats and electronic music by a Tunisian artist.

However, there’s some drama too. Dr. Gabor Maté, a Canadian mental health expert, will give a talk, but the Rector of the University of Wrocław, in southwestern Poland, withdrew his honorary support after Maté publicly criticized Israel’s actions in Palestine. So Maté’s lecture won’t be supported by the university.

This sparked debate in Poland about whether universities should remain neutral and avoid controversial political topics or provide a platform for open discussion, even on sensitive issues.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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