Eva says she has by no means skipped a Polish selection. She has been residing in Germany for 40 years, has a German passport and nonetheless takes half in each selection Poland.
As a Polish refugee, she got here to Germany for the primary time and nonetheless has a household there. Between 2015 and 2023, as the correct nationalist Law and Justice (PIS) party Was in energy, she noticed herself as a battle for democracy and the rule of regulation in Poland.
Round 2 million folks with Polish roots dwell in Germany. At the least 850,000 of them solely have the Polish citizenship. Everybody with a Polish passport has entitled to take part within the elections of Poland, however solely an estimated 80,000 poles in Germany Use this proper within the first spherical of elections that occurred two weeks in the past.
With a view to use their voting rights, the Polish residents residing overseas should register with the corresponding consulate, the place they should have a legitimate Polish ID or a legitimate passport. However many Polish migrants in Germany have none, and the lengthy journey to the subsequent election standing might be discouraging. There are a complete of 54 constituencies in giant cities equivalent to Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne, Munich or Dortmund in Germany. Which means that many Poles who wish to hand over their voices should cowl 200 kilometers or extra. There are not any poll paper absent.
“For me, the vote is an obligation that I might be comfortable to fulfill,” says Eva. That’s the reason she joins 112,000 different Poles in Germany when she handed over her votes within the upcoming presidential run, which is deliberate for June 1st.
Till Could twenty seventh, 1 / 4 extra had registered for this spherical than for the final time. That may be a new record.
Karol Nawrocki behind her in Germany
The outcomes of the primary presidential election point out that Poland in Germany has totally different electoral preferences than their fellow residents in Poland. In each international locations, voters most popular the liberal, pro-European mayor of the Warsaw, Rafal Trzaswski. In Germany, this desire was greater, 40% confirmed help in comparison with 31% in Poland.
Within the meantime, the nationalist, conservative historian Karol Nawrocki achieved second place in Poland with 29.5% of the votes. In Germany, nevertheless, he got here behind the correct -wing extremist fireplace fireplace Slawomir Mentzen, who received 18.8% of the votes.
Nawrocki achieved solely 14.5% of the votes in Germany – far under the 29.5% help that he acquired at residence.
The victory of Trzaskowski, alternatively, was no shock. 5 years in the past, he defeated the nationwide conservative and incumbent President Andrzej Duda with 70% of German voices. In Poland, nevertheless, he misplaced the selection.
Shocking is the truth that Mentzen achieved second place in Germany and third place in Poland. Total, proper -wing candidates in Germany introduced good outcomes. A complete of 28% of voters in Germany supported both mentists or the correct -wing extremist, anti -Semitic legislator Grzegorz Braun. In Poland it was about 22%.
Menzte is a member of the laborious proper proper confederation occasion. He’s a member of the European Parliamentthe place he shares a faction with the so -called Alternative for Germany (AfD) partyWhich Germany’s federal authorities Right extremists.
Braun lately misplaced his parliamentary immunity after utilizing a fireplace extinguisher to mark candles that had been illuminated within the Polish parliament to mark the Jewish trip Hanukka, and attacked a lady who tried to cease him.
Voters suspicious of the two-party system
Damian – not his actual identify – comes from North Poland and has been working beneath building in Germany for years. He says he voted for brown as a result of “he is aware of tips on how to respect the Polish historical past. He preserves the Polish identification.”
“Liberals do not care about it,” the employee continues. “They need them a lot that they current themselves as a European that they make us serviles in Brussels.” To cease this, he says that he “positively” has to participate within the election.
Piotr says he can’t think about to not fulfill his civic responsibility. The self -proclaimed, pious Katholik has a effectively -paid job in Germany, the place he has lived for nearly 40 years. His youngsters who had been born in Germany solely participate in German elections. However Piotr leaves his poll paper in each German and Polish elections.
“I voted for mentzes,” he says. “He’s clever and understands the financial system fairly effectively. And above all, he has nothing to do with the present system.”
Agnieszka Lada-Knefal, a political scientist specializing in Polish relationships, believes that this warning of the “system” was a key issue for figuring out the best way many poles in Germany have given up their voices. “You’ll be able to’t simply name the voters who withdraw brown or mentists’ anti-European or ‘anti-Semitic’,” the professional claims. “Above all, they’re in opposition to the system. They don’t need Trzaskowski or Nawrocki as a result of they characterize the two-party system that has existed for years.
“Our AfD”
Eva says that individuals who vote for proper extremists “solely vote in opposition to one thing”.
“You reside right here in Germany, you see that the AfD collects voices and assume: ‘Why should not we for” our “AfD?” Voices, “explains Eva.
She says she is on the opposite aspect of the fence. Lately she has supported Trzaskowski and the central Civic platform, the reigning Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
On this 12 months’s first spherical of the presidential elections, she voted for the social democratic new left occasion for her Pro-Women’s Rights Platform. For her, as she places it: “It was a query of the guts.”
Eva knew that her candidate had no likelihood of profitable the election. As a substitute, she mentioned she needed to make use of her voice to help issues and calls for that many Polish ladies have an interest – and ship a sign to Trzaskowski. She is satisfied that the liberal candidate will win the drain. That is the one chance of how Prime Minister Tusk’s present authorities coalition might implement reforms that President Duda is presently blocking.
Eva is bound that she is aware of who she ought to return. And he or she’s not the one one.
Each voice counts
In entrance of a Polish church in Südberlin we meet one other girl on the best way to the truthful, much like Eva. “All of my Polish buddies agree,” she says. “Rafal Trzaskowski is the one possibility. Who else?” Faith does not matter, she provides.
“Most Poles in Germany are progressive, open-minded and pro-European,” explains Lada-Konefal. “For such folks, Trzaskowski is the candidate who ensures that Poland may even transfer on this path.”
Each remaining candidates see opinion polls Neck and neck in the drainage. Each single voice might divide the size. For a lot of Polish voters, whether or not in Germany or elsewhere, the election on Sunday shouldn’t be a lot about who they need, however who they do not wish to see in workplace. How to decide on between “much less two evils”.
Dana agrees. She fled to Germany after the LGBTQ+ The group was more and more attacked whereas the PIS occasion was in energy. “Within the first spherical, I voted for the candidate from the left as a result of solely the left occasion takes folks like us critically and helps us for us,” she says. “On Sunday I’ll vote for Trzaskowski as a result of it isn’t as dangerous as Nawrocki.”
She rigorously selects her subsequent phrases. “The selection won’t be good for us to be a very good factor, anstere,” she says. However a President of the PIS occasion might spell a disaster for her group, she provides.
Piotr, who would have most popular to see his proper -wing candidate Mentzen in workplace, agrees that the upcoming departure is about selecting the least dangerous possibility. “So long as it isn’t Trzaskowski,” he provides. “Someday his views change too typically, he’s Catholic and one other he helps the LGBT motion. Someday he swings with a Polish flag, and the closest to it’s a European flag or perhaps a rainbow flag. I simply do not perceive it,” explains the Polish voter. “Nawrocki will get my voice.”
This text was translated from German.
