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Poland's possible post-election scenarios discussed in Warsaw

19.10.2023 15:00
The Warsaw Election Conversation, a discussion on the results of Poland's October 15 parliamentary vote, took place in Warsaw on Wednesday to review possible scenarios for government formation as well as their implications for the European Union and its member states.
Audio
Warsaw Election Conversation: Andrzej Bobiński, managing director of Polityka Insight; Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at the University of Oxford; Daniela Schwarzer, a member of the Executive Board at the Bertelsmann Foundation; and Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Warsaw Election Conversation: Andrzej Bobiński, managing director of Polityka Insight; Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at the University of Oxford; Daniela Schwarzer, a member of the Executive Board at the Bertelsmann Foundation; and Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations.Photo: Danuta Isler/Radio Poland

Organized by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Warsaw-based Polityka Insight think tank, the event gathered international experts to talk about what the Polish elections mean for Europe.

The prevailing conclusion was that the results of the elections will determine Poland’s political trajectory and play a significant role in shaping the European political landscape ahead of next year's European Parliament elections and Poland's rotating presidency of the EU in the first half of 2025.

"It is a historic election result that brings Poland back to be a strong and liberal democracy and a country in the European mainstream," Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at the University of Oxford, told Radio Poland's Danuta Isler after the debate.

Daniela Schwarzer, a member of the executive board at the Bertelsmann Foundation, said: "There is an opening now to not only improve bilateral Polish-German relations but also our joint perspective on Europe."

Click on the audio player above to listen.