Poland's ruling coalition wins EU election

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – The Civic Coalition (KO), the largest party in Poland's coalition government, won 37.06% of the votes in the European Parliamentary elections, while the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party received 36.16%, according to official results released on Monday.

The far-right Confederation finished third with 12.08% of the vote, while smaller ruling coalition parties Third Way and the Left received 6.91% and 6.3%, respectively. The turnout rate was 40.65%.

"We have been waiting for this first place on the podium for exactly 10 years," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “Today we showed that we are a light of hope for Europe,” he added.

After a difficult six months since the general election in late 2023, Tusk’s KO appears to have won a significant vindication in its attempts to roll back the previous PiS government’s judicial and media reforms, though PiS's showing remained strong.

Smaller ruling coalition parties, Third Way and Left, however, suffered major drops in support, while the far-right Confederation consolidated its strong showing from 2023.