Two demonstrations took place simultaneously in the streets of Warsaw on Sunday, May 25, but protesters marched in opposite directions, symbolizing two radically different visions for Poland. On one side, an eclectic parade waved Polish, European and rainbow flags advocating for a resolutely European Poland. On the other, a uniform, exclusively red-and-white procession with nationalist overtones viewed "those on the other side" as traitors ready to sell the country to foreign interests and import progressive "ideologies" from "the West."

Sound familiar? These are the two Polands that have been at odds for nearly 20 years: The Poland of Donald Tusk, former and current liberal prime minister, and the Poland of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who ruled the Law and Justice party (PiS, right-wing populist) with an iron fist between 2015 and 2023.

But the first round of the presidential election on May 18 sent a clear message – this polarization of the political landscape is running out of steam. The combined scores of candidates from these two parties have never been so low: 60% compared to nearly 80% in 2010 and 74% in 2020.

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