Rafal Trzaskowski: the pro-EU Polish polyglot with his eye on the presidency

By Barbara Erling and Alan Charlish

SZCZECIN, Poland (Reuters) - Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the Oxford-educated son of a jazz musician and frontrunner in Sunday's Polish presidential election, made friends across the European Parliament when he worked there, including with Portugal's now-foreign minister.

"He was very well known, not only because he was very talented," Paulo Rangel said during a break from campaigning for his own country's election, referring to their time together as EU lawmakers from 2009.

"He really became very popular... because he was a very easy-going person but at the same time he could speak five languages," he added.

Trzaskowski can communicate in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Italian. His supporters hope his friendships with high-ranking European policymakers like Rangel can further Poland's growing influence in Europe since Prime Minister Donald Tusk succeeded a eurosceptic nationalist in 2023.

But it is also part of the reason some Poles going to vote in the first round of a presidential election on May 18 view him as part of a liberal metropolitan elite whose concerns are far removed from their own. 

Trzaskowski paints the vote as a choice between Western liberal values and the rising nationalism across central and eastern Europe, where eurosceptic parties have already won power or are poised to do so. 

"These elections are about whether we will be part of the West or part of the East," he told a rally in the northern port city of Szczecin. 

"Look where Slovakia is today, where Hungary is, what's happening in the Balkans. Look - this very same battle is happening in Romania... These parties are either pro-Russian or repeat Russian propaganda. They simply don't feel at home in Europe. Why? Because Europe is too positive for them."

His rivals are fighting back.

"He is so European he has forgotten he is Polish," said Marek Suski, a lawmaker from the nationalist opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party. 

PiS backs conservative historian and amateur boxer Karol Nawrocki to become president, a role with limited executive powers but the right to veto legislation, in the election, which is likely to go to a second round. 

Outgoing PiS President Andrzej Duda has used his power of veto to block many of Tusk's pro-European reforms.

POLITICAL CAREER

After studying in Oxford and Paris, Trzaskowski wrote a PhD thesis in Warsaw called "The dynamics of reforming the decision-making system of the European Union". He worked as an adviser and an elected member of the European Parliament before becoming Poland's Minister of Administration and Digitalisation and then Deputy Foreign Minister.

As mayor of Warsaw since 2018, he has gained a reputation as a supporter of liberal causes such as LGBT rights.

His critics say he is a deeply polarising figure in a country where many Poles, especially outside the big cities, hold socially conservative views, and they are scathing about his perceived rightward shift during the presidential campaign.

His rivals also say his pro-European stance means he will put the interests of other countries above those of Poland.

His supporters say he is trying to reach out to all sides of the political spectrum.

"His goal is to reduce the polarisation we see in Poland," said Agnieszka Pomaska, a lawmaker from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO) and a member of Trzaskowski's campaign team.

"He's definitely not someone who rejects ideas just because they come from another political camp."

Rangel said Trzaskowski could cement Poland's place as a major player at the heart of European policymaking over the twin challenges of Russia's invasion of Poland's eastern neighbour Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Trzaskowski's international track record "will open a lot of doors," Rangel said.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling and Alan Charlish; editing by Philippa Fletcher)