Do we like Karol Nawrocki?
Our score: 2 out of 10. He vetoed limited rights for same-sex couples and made a debate claim about a writer that prosecutors have not acted on, with little real good on the record to set against it.
Karol Nawrocki is a Gdańsk-born historian with a PhD who joined the Institute of National Remembrance in 2009. He ran the Second World War museum in Gdańsk from 2017 to 2021, then headed the Institute. AFP also reports he was an amateur boxer who still boxes, and that he took the presidency in August 2025 with Law and Justice (PiS) backing.
The museum-apartment saga is the big scandal. Polskie Radio reported in February 2025 that prosecutors were looking into alleged abuse of power over free use of museum rooms, with reports he stayed in a deluxe suite for over 200 days. He denied wrongdoing, saying it was used for COVID quarantine and official meetings. In August 2026 Gdańsk prosecutors dropped the probe, saying the evidence didn't establish an offence, though that can be appealed. AFP also reported a news report alleging he arranged sex workers for guests at a hotel where he once worked; he called it “a bunch of lies”.
On the harm test, the clearest act is the July 2026 veto of a bill that would have given unmarried couples, same-sex couples included, a limited set of rights like hospital information and inheritance tax relief. It was no marriage equality, and it would have been Poland's first legal recognition of same-sex relationships. He said it would create “civil partnerships through the back door”. Tusk called the veto “an expression of contempt toward people”, and a CBOS poll cited by PinkNews found 62% of Poles back civil partnerships.
There's a second mark. In the 23 May 2025 debate he said writer Klementyna Suchanow had turned municipal premises into a hideout for moving illegal migrants. OKO.press says the claim echoed TV Republika reports built on SMS screenshots that showed only that she could pass on a contact for an Afghan woman who could help with translations, and that prosecutors haven't charged her. She sued in November 2025. No ruling has been reported, and his Chancellery didn't answer OKO.press on what evidence backed the claim.
Beyond that, he set a record of 37 vetoes in about ten months, including a bill extending the deadline for doctors from outside the EU to pass a Polish language exam (treatment of HIV was named). He argued patients should be able to talk freely with their doctor. On climate, Euronews reports he rejects green taxes and the EU emissions trading system with the line “Hands off Polish coal until we get to the atom”, though he does back nuclear power. He also vetoed the law implementing the EU Digital Services Act, which Demagog says is meant to make platforms remove illegal content such as scams faster.
The latest stoush is foreign policy. In June 2026 he revoked Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle after Ukraine named a military unit after the “Heroes of the UPA”. Zelensky suggested it was about beating Tusk at home by appealing to anti-Ukrainian sentiment, but Nawrocki said the dispute is about history, not domestic politics. Where you land depends on whether you read it as a history stand or as domestic politics.