.png)
7 hours ago
5
Morning opening: Building up to Super Sunday
Jakub Krupa
Good morning, or dzień dobry, from Warsaw, Poland, where 13 presidential candidates are up very early to make the most of the last day before the “electoral silence” kicks in ahead of this Sunday’s first round of the presidential vote.
With leading contenders hitting the campaign trail around 6am local time today, it’s going to be a long day ahead for them as they hope to convince some undecided voters in what looks like an increasingly tight race.
The frontrunner, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, popped in to a bakery in Myśliborz, while his main rival, conservative Karol Nawrocki, went to say hi to miners. You get the idea.
I have spent the last few days here talking to voters and attending rallies by candidates ranging from far-left to far-right, and I will bring you some of what I saw and heard today and over the weekend.
The candidates have only until midnight to campaign, and they want to make every minute count.
I will bring you more updates on this throughout the day, as we build up to Super Sunday with elections not only in Poland, with Portugal set to choose its next government and a super close presidential run-off in Romania.
But we will also keep an eye on the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, where key European leaders are expected to talk about the future of the continent. Britain’s Starmer, Germany’s Merz, France’s Macron, Turkey’s Erdogan, Poland’s Tusk, and EU’s von der Leyen and Costa are all there.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Friday, 16 May 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Ukraine dominates headlines in Europe
Before we dive into Poland, Portugal and Romania any further, let me bring you some headline updates from across Europe, with lots of understandable focus on Ukraine -
-
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sent a delegation to Istanbul for peace talks with Russia, paving the way for the first direct negotiations between the two countries since March 2022 – although Washington has warned that no breakthrough is likely unless Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agree to meet.
-
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte praised Ukraine for attending the talks, and said it turns the attention to Putin as “all pressure is on him” to make progress in the peace process.
-
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said this morning that Russia was “clearly” not working for peace with Ukraine, as she urged leaders attending the European Political Community summit in Albania to ramp up the pressure on Russia to maintain its “political isolation.”
You can follow our separate live blog on Ukraine here:
Morning opening: Building up to Super Sunday
Jakub Krupa
Good morning, or dzień dobry, from Warsaw, Poland, where 13 presidential candidates are up very early to make the most of the last day before the “electoral silence” kicks in ahead of this Sunday’s first round of the presidential vote.
With leading contenders hitting the campaign trail around 6am local time today, it’s going to be a long day ahead for them as they hope to convince some undecided voters in what looks like an increasingly tight race.
The frontrunner, Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, popped in to a bakery in Myśliborz, while his main rival, conservative Karol Nawrocki, went to say hi to miners. You get the idea.
I have spent the last few days here talking to voters and attending rallies by candidates ranging from far-left to far-right, and I will bring you some of what I saw and heard today and over the weekend.
The candidates have only until midnight to campaign, and they want to make every minute count.
I will bring you more updates on this throughout the day, as we build up to Super Sunday with elections not only in Poland, with Portugal set to choose its next government and a super close presidential run-off in Romania.
But we will also keep an eye on the European Political Community summit in Tirana, Albania, where key European leaders are expected to talk about the future of the continent. Britain’s Starmer, Germany’s Merz, France’s Macron, Turkey’s Erdogan, Poland’s Tusk, and EU’s von der Leyen and Costa are all there.
I will bring you all the key updates throughout the day.
It’s Friday, 16 May 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
