Polish nationalist opposition presidential candidate attends White House event

WARSAW (Reuters) -The presidential candidate backed by Poland’s main nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) attended the National Day of Prayer at the White House on Thursday, his campaign team said.

Poles will vote in the first round of a presidential election on May 18, and maintaining good relations with the United States will be a key task for the next head of state of a country that sees Washington’s support as essential for its security.

Adam Bielan, a PiS Member of the European Parliament, posted a picture on X of Karol Nawrocki, the conservative historian backed by the party in the presidential campaign, in the crowd at the event outside the White House, before an address by President Donald Trump.

The head of Nawrocki’s campaign team mocked the frontrunner in the presidential race, Rafal Traszkowski from the ruling Civic Coalition (KO), who held a rally with Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the seaside resort of Sopot, Tusk’s home town.

“Trzaskowski with Tusk in Sopot, Nawrocki with Trump in the White House,” Pawel Szefernaker wrote on X.

There was no immediate comment from Trzaskowski’s team.

Trzaskowski and Nawrocki are expected to face each other in a run-off vote on June 1, assuming that no candidate gets more than 50% of votes in the first round.

(Reporting by Alan CharlishEditing by Peter Graff)

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