Claudia Ciobanu

With less than two weeks before Poland’s presidential elections, opposition Law and Justice party-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki is facing claims he was dishonest about owning a second property.

Elsewhere in the region: constitutionality of Czech-Vatican treaty in doubt; Hungary taken to EU court over migrants’ smugglers; and Slovak PM echoes Russian propaganda on wars past and present.

Over a thousand people took part in an “anti-immigration” demonstration on the streets of Warsaw on Saturday, which had been organised by a well-known ultranationalist.

Elsewhere, Polish and Romanian politicians reach out to each other ahead of the weekend’s presidential elections; Czech election campaign officially kicks off; Orban ramps up anti-Ukraine rhetoric; and a crank call in Slovakia.

Rafal Trzaskowski of the PM's liberal party will face Karol Nawrocki of the opposition PiS in the second round of Poland's presidential race on June 1.

By Claudia Ciobanu Rafal Trzaskowski, Warsaw’s liberal mayor, narrowly won the first round of Poland’s presidential election on Sunday with

Elsewhere, Polish hard-right leader challenges presidential candidates to persuade his voters; Czechs join Western spy agencies in warning over Russian cyber-espionage and attacks; and Slovakia one of few to abstain on WHO's pandemic treaty.

With Poland ground zero of Russia's hybrid war against the West, the government has been closely monitoring for signs of interference ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff. Numerous threats were identified, but the ‘Romanian scenario' seems to have been avoided.

Elsewhere, Hungarian PM uses CPAC to rally radical-right against the EU; Czech Foreign Ministry directly accuses China of hacking; and German chancellor warns Slovakia and Hungary of EU penalties over their Russian stance.

Donald Tusk has asked a billionaire to come up with some proposals on how to deregulate Poland’s economy. But how impactful and positive will the suggested changes really be?