Supporters of the Law and Justice party watch an election debate on a screen outside the ATM studio in Warsaw on Oct. 9.
Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg
Europe at War Can’t Ignore Poland’s Bitter Election
The nationalist Law and Justice party is pulling economic levers to keep power, and another term could spell more trouble for the European Union.
In Biala Piska, nestled among lakes and farms in northeast Poland, pensioner Bozena Szczekocka knows exactly what she wants to see change after the country’s election this Sunday: nothing.
The Polish economy has grown more than 50%, wages have almost doubled and unemployment has been halved over the past eight years under the leadership of the Law and Justice party. The 4,000 or so inhabitants of the town, which is in a region that used to be among the country’s poorest, have also benefited from government handouts for families with children, the unemployed, disabled and pensioners.