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Vandalism raises tensions in final days of Polish presidential race

30.05.2025 15:00
Tensions in Poland’s presidential race are rising as candidates' campaign materials are targeted in acts of vandalism, including by individuals linked to the right-wing PiS party.
Sylwester Marciniak (right), head of Polands National Electoral Commision, briefs the media on key voting procedures Friday, one day before countrys pre-election silence period. Raports of campaign banner vandalism emerged in several regions.
Sylwester Marciniak (right), head of Poland's National Electoral Commision, briefs the media on key voting procedures Friday, one day before country's pre-election silence period. Raports of campaign banner vandalism emerged in several regions.Photo: Leszek Szymański/Facebook.com/Piotr Wyszyński

Among those involved were a PiS-affiliated local councillor from Kraśnik in eastern Poland and a resident of Wołomin, near Warsaw, who allegedly collected cut-out images of Trzaskowski’s face from campaign billboards.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza Lublin, a local edition of the Polish daily, an experienced city councillor and deputy chairman in Kraśnik was caught damaging banners belonging to candidates from the ruling coalition’s political opposition.

These included posters of Rafał Trzaskowski, Magdalena Biejat, and Szymon Hołownia. The incident took place in mid-May, before the first round of voting, as the councillor was returning from a campaign event.

On the eve of the second-round campaign blackout, Gazeta Wyborcza also reported on a resident of Wołomin who allegedly destroyed dozens of Trzaskowski’s posters.

Na dzisiejszej krótkiej konferencji prasowej pokazaliśmy kilka banerów z ok. 300, które zostały pocięte pomalowane lub...

Opublikowany przez Piotra Wyszyńskiego Środa, 28 maja 2025

The 44-year-old man reportedly used precision tools to cut out faces from the billboards and kept some of them as trophies. Others were left marked with the "Fighting Poland" symbol - an emblem linked to the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. He now faces up to five years in prison.

In an earlier incident, a couple from Lutynia near Wrocław received a “Christian warning” from a local rosary prayer group after displaying a poster of a candidate unpopular with radical ultra-Catholic circles. After replacing a vandalised banner, they discovered their parents’ grave had been desecrated.

Siostry Różańcowe są kochane, ale kiedy temat zejdzie na politykę, to diabeł z nich wychodzi – mówią ludzie w...

Opublikowany przez Gazeta Wyborcza Czwartek, 29 maja 2025

(mp)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza/X/@Bertold_K/@coellen_barbara