Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Polish candidate Karol Nawrocki claims Europe is in crisis and calls for a conservative revival at CPAC, emphasizing Poland's role in transatlantic relations.
WARSAW (Reuters) -Europe is in crisis and needs Poland to "wake it up," Polish nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki said on Tuesday, speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland.
The most prominent U.S. conservative gathering, founded on the ideals of personal liberty and limited government, convened in the eastern city of Rzeszow. It was meeting in Europe for only the second time after a gathering in Hungary in 2022.
Nawrocki was speaking at the CPAC as part of his campaign ahead of the presidential election's second round on Sunday, with polls showing him just behind liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski.
Nawrocki, a candidate supported by the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), wants Poland to follow a path inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump and regards Washington as a key ally, rather than Brussels.
"Europe today is in a great crisis," Nawrocki told the conservative gathering, standing in front of a screen with the Polish and U.S. national flags.
He added that Europe needs the voice of conservatives to rouse it from its current state of being sidelined in economic geopolitics and its own security.
Nawrocki highlighted his recent visit to the White House, emphasising the importance of strong transatlantic ties.
"I will ensure that Poland becomes the leader of the European Union in transatlantic relations," he said.
He also spoke against the hate speech act, a law that would expand Poland's hate crime laws to include sexual orientation, gender, age and disability as protected categories.
"We cannot allow our freedom of speech to be taken away," Nawrocki said.
(Reporting by Barbara Erling and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Rod Nickel)
Nawrocki stated that 'Europe today is in a great crisis' and emphasized the need for conservative voices to awaken it from being sidelined in economic geopolitics.
He highlighted the importance of strong transatlantic ties and expressed his intention to make Poland a leader in these relations within the European Union.
Nawrocki spoke against the hate speech act, arguing that it would infringe on freedom of speech by expanding hate crime laws to include various protected categories.
Nawrocki is supported by the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), and is currently polling just behind liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski.
He was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Rzeszow, Poland, which is a prominent gathering for U.S. conservatives.
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