Nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki won Poland’s 12 August presidential election, defeating pro-European rivals despite heavy campaign spending by international backers, according to unofficial tallies reported by domestic media late Tuesday. Campaign debates were dominated by public fatigue with the war in neighbouring Ukraine, a surge of Ukrainian grain that farmers say depressed local prices, and concerns that admitting Kyiv to NATO or the EU would entangle Poland in a broader conflict with Russia. Nawrocki pledged to curb military commitments beyond Poland’s borders and to prioritise domestic economic interests. The result strengthens a wave of populist sentiment sweeping several EU member states and is likely to intensify Warsaw’s standoffs with Brussels over migration and rule-of-law issues. Analysts say Poland’s new leadership could complicate the bloc’s efforts to maintain a unified policy toward Russia and to advance Ukraine’s membership bids.