Poland's prime minister celebrates after his party wins a string of cities in mayoral votes

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.

Tusk declared victory in the second round of the country’s local elections late Sunday and listed the many cities where candidates backed by his Civic Coalition won, among them Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Rzeszow.

It puts the pro-European Union centrist Civic Coalition in a favorable position as the country looks next to elections to the European Parliament on June 9.

“I think we won the second round. We won’t stop!” Tusk wrote on social platform X.

Mayors were chosen in a total of 748 cities and towns where no single candidate won at least 50% of the vote during the first round on April 7.

Candidates for Tusk’s party also recaptured cities where they had not held power for many years, including Zielona Gora, Legnica and Torun.