A storm has erupted in Poland after right-wing Confederation party presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen shared a beer with the ruling party candidate Rafał Trzaskowski and foreign minister Radosław Sikorski.
Ahead of the decisive second round of the presidential election due on June 1, this apparent fraternisation upset many supporters of the political Right. They were bemused as to why Mentzen was socialising with people who had attacked him in the past for being an extremist and who he has said he wanted to see out of office.
On May 24, Mentzen and Trzaskowski took part in a televised meeting after which both men joined Sikorski to have a beer at a pub owned by Metzen, something that caused further dismay on both the Right and the Left.
The video of the pub get-together was posted on X by Sikorski with the caption: “For a Poland that unites, not divides.” Within the first hour, the clip had racked up more than 1 million views and by morning of May 25 it had already hit almost 6 million.
Za Polskę która łączy, nie dzieli. #WygraCałaPolska @trzaskowski_ @SlawomirMentzen pic.twitter.com/GOKurHrWq8
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) May 24, 2025
Reaction to the beer meeting was, to many observers, indicative of the present level of polarisation in Poland.
Confederation voters expressed shock that Mentzen would meet socially with the representatives of the governing elites he is meant to be in conflict with, while those on the Left criticised Trzaskowski for drinking with the Right.
Inside the hostelry, security guards kept regulars away from Mentzen, Trzaskowski and Sikorski.
Mentzen made light of the social media storm by stating that “politicians should be able to talk to each other” and that there was “nothing wrong” in him asking Tusk’s allies to join him for a beer.
He also said he was keen to avoid “being in a situation in which we will automatically have to ally with PiS in future and have no room for manoeuvre”.
Commentators speculated whether Mentzen was attempting to create common ground for a future coalition with Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO) in which the Confederation party would replace the Left, or whether he wanted to see the PiS defeated so his party could in future replace it.
The pub get-together attracted criticism of Mentzen for having apparently failed to understand the mood of his electorate and naively having walked into a trap set for him by Trzaskowski and Sikorski. Many posited that they were attempting to suggest Tusk’s party could work with Confederation and that therefore there was no need to vote against it in the second round of the election.
Krzysztof Bosak MP, who leads Confederation together with Mentzen, told broadcaster Kanał Zero that he would not have gone for a beer with Trzaskowski just days before the second round of the presidential ballot.
According to latest polling, most Confederation party voters intended to support Karol Nawrocki, the candidate of the Conservatives (PiS).
During the earlier televised exchange, following claims that the Tusk candidate’s campaign had received funds from abroad, Mentzen challenged asked Trzaskowski about the management of his official online profile.
“Who from Hungary was managing your Facebook account?” he asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” replied Trzaskowski who then argued he could not be aware of all the social media accounts that might have been set up in support of his campaign.
Mentzen responded by saying he was referring to Trzaskowski’s official Facebook account and that, thanks to increased transparency rules by operator Meta, it was possible to access data showing this Facebook profile was managed by individuals located in Hungary and Belgium.
“This is especially interesting because the company Estratos, which organised the entire hate campaign against me using foreign funding, just so happens to have branches and offices in Hungary and Belgium, Mentzen claimed.
“Precisely the same locations where the people managing your Facebook profile are based.”
He added that once the media began reporting on the situation and the scandal erupted, the two individuals based abroad stopped managing the account.
Trzaskowski claimed that was the first time he had heard about the matter and said the “authorities” should look into it.
Meanwhile, those same authorities have been trying to identify a man who, during an open air rally for Trzaskowski in the southern city of Tarnów on May 22, climbed onto the roof of a building dressed as Zorro and unfurled a large banner stating: “Anyone but Trzaskowski”.
Zorro przeciwko Trzaskowskiemu 🙂#Tarnów pic.twitter.com/vrK0EMCyHU
— Arkadiusz Rogowski (@Rogowski_Arek) May 22, 2025
The police questioned the administrator of the building who did not want to press charges against the perpetrator, but the police were still reported to be looking for the prankster.
On May 23, he appeared on independent Conservative TV Republika disguised as the fictional Spanish/Mexican vigilante Zorro and mocked the authorities’ thus far unsuccessful attempts to capture him.
