Liberal Tides, Populist Currents: Elections in Poland and Romania

Three European countries – Romania, Poland and Portugal – held elections on Sunday that, in the midst of their various natures and results, reveal a mixture of lights and shadows for liberal democracy, the European Union (EU) and the bet on the Western alliance represented by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).The great triumph for those three bastions of independence, progress and freedom took place in the second round for Romania's …

Liberal tides, populist currents: Elections in Poland and Romania

This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Piotr Buras, head of ECFR’s Warsaw office, for an emergency room episode dissecting Sunday’s pivotal elections in Poland and Romania. Their discussion, which was recorded after high-stakes voting had taken place across Portugal, Poland and Romania, zooms in on some surprising outcomes. Romania’s liberal candidate, Nicusor Dan, defied polls to defeat far-right contender George Simion, while Poland’s presidenti…

In Romania and Poland, the 2025 presidential elections confirm the anchoring of radical rights, doped by social networks and distrust towards the elites. Yet, it is two liberals who come in the lead. A fragile burst in tense democracies, both internal and external?