Party conferences and elections

The first round of the presidential elections will take place in Poland on May 18. Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun continues his aggressive election campaign. On April 16, Braun and 30 other people stormed a hospital to allegedly carry out a “citizen's arrest” against a doctor who performs abortions there. The doctor was harassed and called a “serial killer.” As Barbara Wolk reports in euobserver, Braun's attack is only the latest shocking incident in a political climate in which the reproductive rights of pregnant women are being attacked in the election campaign. However, Wolk also sees new opportunities for the decriminalization of abortion. Read more at euobserver. Due to previous violent attacks, Braun had his immunity revoked by the European Parliament in early May.

In addition to the candidate of the ruling Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska - PO) and Karol Nawrocki of the opposition right-wing conservative Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość - PiS), the regular candidate of the far-right Konfederacja (Confederation), Sławomir Mentzen, has also been hoping to at least make it to the runoff against the PO. His approval ratings rose from around 12% to more than 20%. PO candidate Rafał Trzaskowski is still considered the clear favorite.

Meanwhile, Poland's Digital Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski accuses Russia of interfering in the presidential election. This is being done through the spread of disinformation in combination with hybrid attacks on Poland's critical infrastructure, attacks against water and sewage companies, heating plants, and state administrations, as well as cyberattacks. This was reported by Der Standard.

The first round of the presidential elections was held in Romania, which was won decisively by the candidate of the far-right AUR (Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor - Alliance for the Unification of Romanians), George Simion, with around 40 percent of the vote. He is followed by independent candidate Nicosur Dan, mayor of Bucharest, with 21 percent, and the candidate of the pro-European governing coalition, Crin Antonescu, with only 20 percent.

As in Poland, the runoff election will take place on May 18 between Simion and Antonescu. Following the defeat of his candidate in the presidential election, the Social Democratic head of government Ciolacu announced his resignation. The first election, which was won by the pro-Russian, far-right Călin Georgescu, was annulled due to irregularities in campaign financing. Since then, Romania has been in a political crisis. Simion and Georgescu are Trump supporters, and there has been massive support for the far right from the US (here Simion with CPAC organizer Matt Schlapp) and from the European ECR faction.