Poland continues to delay recognition of US election results

Warsaw, Poland – Polish authorities are still playing for time and have so far refused to officially recognize the results of the 2020 US election.

A close Trump ally, Poland awaits developments to recognize US election results

Although President Andrzej Duda has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden for a successful campaign, Polish authorities have so far fallen short of officially recognizing him as the next U.S. President to replace Donald Trump.

“This election process in the U.S. is not over yet,” Duda was quoted as saying earlier this month. “All the indications are that Joe Biden will be the president, but this issue is not yet finally settled”.

Speaking on Tuesday on public radio, Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbiegniew Rau echoed the president’s views, saying that Warsaw was awaiting legal developments in the U.S. to acknowledge the results.

He pointed out that the Electoral College, officially in charge of electing the next U.S. President, would not meet before December 14, and that legal proceedings to determine the validity of the results could go on until inauguration day, on January 20.

“Totalitarian regimes”

Donald Trump has so far refused to concede, making unsubstantiated claims that the November 3 election was rigged in favour of Democratic opponent Joe Biden. His legal and campaign team has asked for vote recounts in a number of key swing states and contested results in court.

A vast majority of key world leaders have already congratulated Joe Biden for his victory, while a handful of countries – including Russia – have stayed quiet and decided to wait for the official confirmation of results.

Commentators have pointed out that a Biden victory could spell trouble for Poland’s ruling PiS party, which had found in Trump an accommodating ally willing to turn a blind eye on its rule of law record while boosting military and defence cooperation – a long-standing goal for Polish officials.

A Pew Research Centre study earlier this year found that Poland is the country in Europe where Donald Trump is viewed the most favourably.

During the campaign, Biden had drawn the ire of officials in Warsaw by saying Trump was cozying up with “totalitarian regimes” all around the world, naming Poland and Hungary among others.

Main photo credit: Official Facebook page of Joe Biden