On Sunday the elections took place not only in Poland. While Poles elected the president for another term, the same was done by Romanian citizens. In Poland First circular was won by Citizen Coalition candidate Rafał TrzaskowskiCharles Nawrocki, supported by the Law and Justice, received small little votes. In Romania, in repeated elections, pro-European mayor of Bucharest Nicosor Dan won, defeating right-wing extremist George Simion. In Portugal, the centre-right Democratic Alliance won in early parliamentary elections, but did not gain the support to regulation independently. All these elections, according to the China Daily, were “an crucial minute for the political direction of the European Union”.
China: elections can change Europe's approach to key issues
According to the Chinese, the key elections held in 3 European countries "can change the approach of the continent to issues specified as Ukraine policy and economical governance" and be "a test of Europe's unity in the face of tensions". The vote took place at a hard time for the European Union, not only due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the effort to halt it, but besides due to the burning immigration issues, economical pressures and the increasing nationalist sentiments.
The author of the article in the "China Daily" pointed out that Donald Trump's return to the position of president of the United States spurred Eurosceptic sentiments across Europe, and Trump's politics and rhetoric could not stay indifferent to voters and surely influenced the final results.
In Poland, as in Romania, voters chose between highly different approaches to the actions of a united Europe. "The presidential elections in Poland are a referendum on the pro-European programme of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, implemented after he overturned the nationalist government of Law and Justice at the end of 2023," says China Daily. The diary stressed that the result of these elections could decide whether Poland would proceed its commitment to the EU or "return to nationalism".
