Europe is in crisis, Polish nationalist presidential candidate tells conservative conference

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WARSAW (Reuters) -Europe is in crisis and needs Poland to “wake it up,” Polish nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki said on Tuesday, speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Poland.

The most prominent U.S. conservative gathering, founded on the ideals of personal liberty and limited government, convened in the eastern city of Rzeszow. It was meeting in Europe for only the second time after a gathering in Hungary in 2022.

Nawrocki was speaking at the CPAC as part of his campaign ahead of the presidential election’s second round on Sunday, with polls showing him just behind liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski.

Nawrocki, a candidate supported by the main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), wants Poland to follow a path inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump and regards Washington as a key ally, rather than Brussels.

“Europe today is in a great crisis,” Nawrocki told the conservative gathering, standing in front of a screen with the Polish and U.S. national flags.

He added that Europe needs the voice of conservatives to rouse it from its current state of being sidelined in economic geopolitics and its own security.

Nawrocki highlighted his recent visit to the White House, emphasising the importance of strong transatlantic ties.

“I will ensure that Poland becomes the leader of the European Union in transatlantic relations,” he said.

He also spoke against the hate speech act, a law that would expand Poland’s hate crime laws to include sexual orientation, gender, age and disability as protected categories.

“We cannot allow our freedom of speech to be taken away,” Nawrocki said.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk; Editing by Rod Nickel)