一 | WARSAW, Poland -- The majority of voters in Poland's general election supported opposition parties that promised to reverse democratic backsliding and repair the nation's relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine, according to projections Monday.After a bitter and emotional campaign, turnout was projected at almost 73%, the highest level in the country's 34 years of democracy and surpassing the 63% who turned out in the historic 1989 vote that toppled communism. In the city of Wroclaw, the lines were so long that voting continued through the night until nearly 3 a.m.A so-called late exit poll by Ipsos suggested that voters had grown tired of the governing nationalist Law and Justice party after eight years of divisive policies that led to frequent street protests, bitter divisions within families and billions of euros (dollars) in funding held up by the EU over rule of law violations.Poland's currency, the zloty, strengthened against the dollar and the euro on news of the opposition gains.The outcome could also affect ties with neighboring Ukraine, which Poland has supported in the war against Russia's aggression. The good relations soured in September over Ukraine grain entering and affecting Poland's market.The Ipsos poll showed that three centrist opposition parties that campaigned on a promise to reverse the illiberal drift of the government had together secured around 248 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, or Sejm, a clear majority.“I am really overjoyed now," Magdalena Chmieluk, a 43-year-old accountant, said Monday morning. The opposition "will form a government and we will finally be able to live in a normal country, for real.”The opposition parties faced many disadvantages in contesting the election, said Jacek Kucharczyk, president of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Warsaw think tank.The governing party mobilized its administrative resources to help itself, including by controlling the election administration and by an unfair division of votes in electoral districts, he said.“This success is even more remarkable knowing that the whole playing field was uneven. The electoral system was really tilted toward the government,” Kucharczyk told The Associated Press. “You could say that the opposition had to fight this election with one hand tied behind its back and they still won.”Still, Poles on Monday were facing weeks of political uncertainty. Law and Justice won more votes than any single party and said it would try to build a new government led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.“No matter how you look at it, we won,” Law and Justice campaign manager Joachim Brudzinski said Monday in an interview on RMF FM radio.President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, must call the first session of the new parliament within 30 days of the election and designate a prime minister to try to build a government. In the meantime, the current government will remain in a caretaker role.The tradition in the democratic era has been for the president to first tap someone from the party with the most votes, but he is not required to do so.It was not clear how Law and Justice could realistically hold onto power, unless it managed to win over some lawmakers from opposition parties, something it did in the past to maintain the thin parliamentary majority it held for eight years. But that seemed unlikely given the large number that would need to change allegiances.The leader of the agrarian PSL party, a frequent kingmaker in past governments, ruled out cooperating with Law and Justice, known in Poland as PiS, after running with the Third Way coalition.“Those who voted for us want change, want a change of government, want PiS removed from power," Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on RMF FM.The Ipsos poll showed Law and Justice with 36.6% of the votes cast; the opposition Civic Coalition, led by former European Council President Donald Tusk, with 31%; the centrist Third Way coalition with 13.5%; the Left party with 8.6%; and the far-right Confederation with 6.4%.The electoral commission said it expected to report the final result Tuesday.Tusk on Sunday evening declared that it was the end of Law and Justice rule and that a new era had begun for Poland.But not all rejoiced over the projected outcome. “I am disappointed with the results but I accept the democratic choice," said Elzbieta Szadur-Urbanska, a 58-year-old psychologist who voted for Law and Justice. “I think my party is also democratic.”Others were concerned about possible obstacles to a smooth transfer of power.The public television broadcaster, TVP, was reporting on Monday that Law and Justice had won the election.Cezary Tomczyk, vice chairman of Tusk’s party, said the governing party would do everything it could to try to maintain power. He called on it to accept the election result, saying it was the will of the people to give power to the opposition.“The nation has spoken,” Tomczyk said. Even if the opposition parties take power, they will face difficulties in putting forward their agenda. The president will have the power to veto new legislation, while the constitutional court, whose role is to ensure that new laws don't violate the basic law, is loyal to the current governing party, Kucharczyk said.“Fixing the relations with the EU in particular will require domestic changes, namely restoring the independence of the judiciary, restoring the rule of law, which is a condition for the EU to release the funding for Poland,” Kucharczyk said. “It will be a very, very prolonged and difficult process."___Associated Press journalists Pietro De Cristofaro, Kwiyeon Ha and Rafal Niedzielski contributed to this report.。

二 | 8月23日，英国媒体发布了一篇文章，里面讲到俄罗斯驻英国大使馆那把坐了七年的椅子，如今空了整整一个月，莫斯科却连个接替的人影都没提。可真正让伦敦坐不住的，不是大使走人，而是俄罗斯接下来的动作。至于这把空椅子什么时候能再坐上人，恐怕不取决于俄罗斯也不取决于英国，而是取决于旁边另一位“大佬”还要装看不见多久。七年老将说走就走先给不常看国际新闻的朋友捋捋现在的情况，今年俄罗斯驻英国大使安德烈·凯林正式离任回国，这人干了七年多。从我的角度出发，那段时间英国、法国、德国代表正好跑去跟俄罗斯副外长拍桌子抗议乌克兰战争，你说这是巧合我是不信。可英国这边急了，媒体挖到一条内幕消息，国家安全系统内部人士直说，莫斯科这招就是故意打脸，意思翻译过来就是，你们英国在我们眼里已经不重要了。以我的感受来说，这话说得够直白，连外交辞令都懒得套了，这在过去几十年的英俄交往里，几乎没见过，那俄罗斯到底为什么翻脸翻得这么彻底？我觉得得从最直接的这根导火索说起。俄罗斯这次没打算忍就是8月中旬乌克兰用了两家英国公司生产的无人机，对伏尔加格勒州和罗斯托夫州的炼油厂发动了至少三次打击，俄罗斯驻英国使馆当天发了一份声明。在我看来措辞已经不是在讲道理了，直接说伦敦“故意押注乌克兰危机升级”，还补了一句虚伪地声称要争取和平，声明最后那句警告才是真杀招，英国介入越深付出的代价就越高。依照我的个人理解，俄罗斯已经把话挑明了，你英国造的武器打我本土，我就让你难受，在此之前，俄罗斯已经放话要扣押英国船只。从我的角度出发，俄罗斯这套打法是有步骤的，先召回大使把外交关系压到代办级，再用无人机事件升级官方谴责，最后甩出海上登检这种硬茬子手段。一步接一步，刀刀都往英国肋条上戳，这绝不是临时起意，是憋着劲在找机会下手。欧盟连声都没敢吭可问题来了，英国挨了这么多刀欧盟在干嘛，就我个人的观察而言，欧盟外交代表出来说了句话，呼吁“双方避免单方面升级”。这话说得四平八稳，两边都点了名又两边都没得罪，美国国务院那边干脆表态，支持乌克兰自卫，但问到英国无人机的事直接拒评。老实讲我的第一感受是，这就是最要命的地方，英国挨打的时候欧盟和美国都在旁边站着，嘴上说兄弟挺住，脚底下纹丝不动。俄罗斯看准的就是这一点，你不是搞联合制裁吗，你不是说欧洲团结如钢吗，那我偏挑你们中间一个往死里整，看其他人敢不敢往前凑。

三 | 最响亮的表态这时候再回头看凯林这个人我觉得挺有意思，他在任七年争议从来没断过，这种人走了按理说英俄关系反而该松口气，但莫斯科偏偏不派人来接。

四 | 以我的感受来说，你说他是外交官，不如说他是俄罗斯情绪的传声筒，这意思很清楚，我连传声筒都不想给你留了。我觉得外交降级到这个份上，离正式断交只差一层窗户纸，而英国安全消息人士那句话说到了根子上，俄罗斯就是在告诉全世界，伦敦已经没有任何价值了。对此我有一个想法，英国好歹还是被针对的那个，至少在棋盘上算个棋子，欧盟连棋子都没当上，就是个看棋的。我们把整件事拆开来看，俄罗斯召回大使、乌克兰用英国无人机、俄罗斯警告升级、黑海扣船、欧盟不吭声、美国不站队、英国国内民意松动。这条链子上每一个环节，在我看来都在告诉欧盟一件事，你们的安全承诺，在俄罗斯眼里就是一张废纸。从我的角度出发，欧盟这些年一直端着架子，说自己不是美国的附庸，要有独立的外交和安全政策。

五 | 可真到了刀架在脖子上的时候，连给英国撑个场面的胆量都没有，俄罗斯这次压根没把欧盟放在眼里，从头到尾瞄准的都是英国，但打狗还得看主人，欧盟连吭都没吭一声。我觉得最大的输家从来不是冲在最前头那个，而是旁边那个喊了半天口号、真到动手时发现自己根本没上桌的。

六 | 欧盟现在的处境就是后者，戏台子搭好了主角打得火热，它举着票站在台下，发现自己的座位早被人撤了，英国虽然挨了打但至少还站在场子里，欧盟呢连门都没进去。以我的认知而言，这场外交冲突走到今天这个地步对谁都没好处，两边把关系搞僵了，生意做不成，老百姓的生活成本只会越来越高。说到底我觉得没有哪个国家不希望自己越来越强大，也没有哪个普通人愿意看着物价飞涨、航线被封、外交人员来回折腾。从我个人感受来讲，英俄之间这把空椅子什么时候能再坐上人，恐怕不取决于俄罗斯什么时候消气，也不取决于英国什么时候服软，而是取决于欧洲那帮沉默的大多数什么时候投票。