Election in Poland: what it means for the EU and Ukraine.

The right-wing, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party headed by Jarosław Kaczyński won the parliamentary elections in Poland but did not achieve a majority in the Polish government. According to exit polls, the party won 36.6% of the vote and will have only 198 out of 460 seats in the parliament.

Donald Tusk’s centrist Citizen Coalition was next in terms of votes with 31%. Tusk will have a good chance to form a ruling coalition that would include the Third Way Alliance and the Left Party. These three groups will receive 248 seats collectively.

“PiS, which has ruled Poland for eight years, has turned public television into a government propaganda arm, restricted abortion rights, and demonized LGBT+ people, migrants, and refugees. This has put Poland on a collision course with Brussels over the rule of law, resulting in tens of billions in funding being frozen“, The Guardian recalled.

According to Bloomberg, Poland will seek to receive more than €35B from the EU that has been withheld by Brussels over these concerns. There is also the prospect of isolating Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, another populist protected by the PiS alliance.