Poland's war against itself enters a new phase after far-right's presidential election success

The Polish president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, is a former football hooligan, pimp, and extortionist, but there is no level of criminality too severe for his far-right voters, writes Sławomir Sierakowski

President-elect Karol Nawrocki has been accused of operating as a pimp at the Grand Hotel in Sopot two decades ago, and of extorting an apartment from a disabled elderly man. Photo: Sean Gallup/AFP via Getty Images

It was the strangest electoral campaign in modern Polish history, with an obviously qualified candidate losing by a sliver to a man who had no business being on the ballot. 

Rafał Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw, speaks five languages and has served as a government minister and a member of the European Parliament, whereas Karol Nawrocki, the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, was previously unknown.