Polish Trump fans gather to ‘Make Poland Great Again’

The crowd, some with signature red hats bearing US President Donald Trump's name, cheered when the man on the stage asked if they were happy that America was becoming great again. But instead of somewhere in the United States, this scene was playing out in an arena in a southern Polish city, complete with a dusting of red or blue "Make Poland Great Again" hats.

Hundreds had come for the first Polish edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a US convention that has been around for decades and has become a celebration of Trump.

The event in Rzeszow is a sharp signal of the hold the US leader's particular brand of conservatism has in Poland, which is days from picking a new president from a field that includes a big Trump fan.

That candidate — nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki — was endorsed by a special guest at Tuesday's conference: US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who said: "He needs to be the next president of Poland."

"We need you to elect the right leader. You will be the leaders that will turn Europe back to conservative values," the Trump ally told the crowd in Rzeszow.

"If you elect a leader that will work with President Donald J. Trump, the Polish people will have an ally strong that will ensure that you will be able to fight off enemies that do not share your values," Noem said. "You will have strong borders. And protect your communities. And keep them safe... You will continue to have a US presence here. A military presence... And you will have equipment that is American made," she added. Nawrocki, who got a standing ovation at the conference, is a Trump fan and met the US leader at the White House earlier this month. He claimed Trump told him: "You will win".

Poland's run-off election on Sunday is shaping up to be a very tight one in the polarised country of 38 million people, as the latest opinion surveys have the candidates tied. Nawrocki, who is backed by Poland's right-wing main opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), will face off against pro-EU Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the candidate of the ruling centrists led by former EU chief Donald Tusk.

The event in Rzeszow, which was organised with Poland's right-wing TV Republika, was held in a region populated by conservative voters. "Are you happy that America is getting closer to being great again? Did the re-election of Donald Trump bring you joy, make you happy?" CPAC organiser Matt Schlapp asked the crowd, which responded with applause.

"We thank you for your courage to be in this room, to stand with us as we fight a most venomous enemy," the chairman of the American Conservative Union said, decrying the "globalists" who he said threatened tenets like family, rule of law and freedom of religion. Vendors sold trucker hats with the slogan "Make Poland Great Again", CPAC Poland mugs and books including one by Nawrocki.

While most of the Rzeszow crowd was in suits and ties — there were exceptions like Anna Maria Ziolkiewicz, who came dressed in Poland's national red-and-white colours with a Nawrocki election button on her lapel.

"I'm a patriotic, religious person with right-wing views, so this event is right up my alley... There's a positive atmosphere," the 61-year-old accountant and history buff from the central city of Lodz told AFP.

She praised Trump as "a wonderful man with character, brave and strong" -- though cautioned that he did not quite understand the danger posed by Russia. Ziolkiewicz believes Poland should be closer to the United States than to the European Union as "the US has never double-crossed us, never deceived us", while she said countries like France and Britain failed to help Poland at the start of World War II.

Krzysztof Pietrzyk, a 43-year-old entrepreneur from nearby Lublin, regretted that the atmosphere at Tuesday's event was "a little bit too quiet".

"I was hoping to have here more American style: loud and big," he said, recalling how tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk brandished a chainsaw on stage at this year's CPAC event near Washington. Donning a well-worn "Make Poland Great Again" hat, unemployed engineer Zenon Fabianowicz said he covered more than 700 kilometres (over 400 miles) from the western village of Krzeszyce to attend. Poland is a "pro-American society. We have a lot in common with the United States. And I think Trump also has a fondness for Poland," the 62-year-old said. "It's the first time CPAC is happening in Poland and I couldn't miss the opportunity."