Establishment candidate Rafał Trzaskowski had the perfect résumé to become Poland’s centrist, pro-European president. His defeat to the hard-right Karol Nawrocki reflects the liberal establishment’s evaporating support among the middle and working classes.

To the surprise of commentators both in Poland and abroad, prime minister Donald Tusk’s candidate, the highly educated, internationally respected liberal Rafał Trzaskowski, did not become Poland’s next president.

A former member of the European Parliament (MEP), cabinet minister, mayor of Warsaw, and deputy leader of the Civic Platform (PO), Trzaskowski embodied everything Western elites have celebrated in the region since 1989. He represents technocratic competence, transatlantic credentials, and an unshakeable faith in liberal democr

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