Euro-Skeptic Wins Presidential Vote in Poland

Andrzei Duda of the conservative PiS party won yesterday’ s second round of Presidential elections in Poland with 52%, against incumbent President Bronislaw Komorowski who got 48%.

Duda, presently a Member of the European Parliament, will take office on Aug. 6, and it is widely expected that a good deal of what he announced during the campaign, will be on his agenda: Generally a euro-skeptic, Duda wants to restore more Polish sovereignty against the EU; he wants to tax the banks and big companies, eliminate tax cuts for foreign investors, and put the banking sector under tighter control. This implies that he also wants more say on what the Polish Central Bank does.

The Presidential vote, signalling a broader change of views among voters, may be a prelude to the October elections for parliament: If the PiS wins also these, a lot of pro-EU policies of the outgoing President and present government will be thrown out the window.