It has not been until well into the early hours in the morning that Valruzia learned who would be the person who, for the next 15 years, would occupy the position of head of State of the Seleyan country. Citizens have awoken today with the news that Urzsula Pawlik, the 56-year-old academic, former rector of the University of Brzawa in Chynberg and former regional development minister, had been chosen by the majority of Valruzians to become their next President.

With turnout down to 79.91% from the previous 88.95% in the first round, more than 9 million Valruzians (9.47%) decided to cast a blank ballot for this second round, expressing dissatisfaction with both of the final candidates.

"We always expected both turnout going down and blank ballots going up in the second round" says a government source "With this system, is obvious that in the second round, when candidates from certain Voiovdeships or with certain sensibilities do not make it, a group of citizens will feel like the two final candidates do not properly represent them, and that is a good thing to express also".

Results were nail-biting until the very end, with President-elect Urszula Pawlik receiving 45,581,774 votes (50.21%) against her rival Dawid Kala's 45,198,583 (49.79%). Kala, who won the first round with 3% over Pawlik, conceded the moment the final results were announced, and congratulated Pawlik on her victory, wishing her "good luck in her role of representing Valruzia at the highest levels". Sources close to Kala reportedly confirmed that some political parties have already got in contact with Kala regarding a future role with them, and he has not rebuked such claims.

Pawlik, who received the official endorsement of first-round candidate and fellow academic Amelia Kluk, was not initially the favorite to win the second round, and markets were at some point even giving her only a 9% chance at winning the Presidency. However, her good performance in the final debate and above all, the lack of endorsement of the other two eliminated candidate in favor of his rival gave her a rising shot at victory. According to political analysts, she managed to win over most Wilczewski's supporters, whilst most of Cezary Robak's previous voters chose to support Dawid Kala's candidacy. The split in votes of Amelia Kluk's voters, with its majority going towards Pawlik, was decisive in securinr her victory by less than a 0.5% margin. 

During her first speech this morning, already as President-elect, Pawlik thanked her supporters "for believing that Valruzia can remain strong through balance, dialogue, and respect for its institutions."

Standing before hundreds of cheering supporters outside the Chynberg Civic Forum, Pawlik described her election as “a victory for moderation and dialogue and a rejection of populism", but emphasized that she intends to work with and listen to "all regions, parties, and citizens" to ensure stability and cooperation during her tenure. While she stressed that the office of the presidency remains a neutral and institutional role, she hinted at her priorities: strengthening scientific, military and educational cooperation across the Seleyan continent, reinforcing Valruzia’s role in international organizations, and promoting sustainable development.

The outgoing members of the Valruzian Presidency – all five Marshalls of the Valruzian Voivodeships, belonging to the KPW – issued an official statement congratulating Pawlik for her victory and highlighting the "maturity and democratic spirit" shown by Valruzian voters, while Chancellor Roksana Parzych, also from the Communist Party, posted a comment on social media welcoming the election of Pawlik as a sign of the "maturity of Valruzian citizens for carrying out a respectul and calm electoral night" and stressed her intention to work "hand by hand with the President to ensure the brightest future to everyone in Valruzia".

Markets reacted positively to the narrow but stable result, with the Valruzian Peso rising slightly in early trading, as analysts pointed out that Pawlik’s technocratic background and her emphasis on continuity in foreign and institutional affairs reassured investors.

Her formal inauguration is now scheduled for January 2nd, 5688 in the Presidential Palace of Nowogard, where she will take the oath of office before the Marshall of the Sejm, the Chancellor, the Marshalls of the five Voivodeships and the members of the Valruzian Supreme Court. When confirmed, and although officially independent, she will become Valruzia’s first conservative Head of State in more than fifty years, the first since Szymona Razem's election, and will continue the Valruzian trend of having only elected women as Presidents of Valruzia – following the steps of Karolina Pietrzyk, Szymona Razem, Tatjana Borkowska and Aleksandra Bielecka. Her election also marks the first time that the winning candidate of the first round ends up being defeated in the second round. She is expected to take her first official trips abroad next month, as her team is already in conversations with neighbors in Likatonia, Baltusia, Lodamun, Tukarali and Kalistan.

Just fourteen days after taking the oath of office, President Urszula Pawlik has started her first official foreign visit, choosing Kalistan as her inaugural destination abroad. Her aircraft landed early in the morning at Kaliburg, where she was welcomed by senior government officials, representatives of the Royal Household, and an enthusiastic crowd that had gathered hours in advance outside to greet Valruzia’s new Head of State, in what is the first stop in a planned journey around Terra in which the Valruzian President plans to visit more continents, with a following trip to Istalia (Majatra) and conversations to visit Xsampa (Dovani), Egelion (Keris) and Kundrati (Artania).

The scale of the reception surprised even Valruzian diplomats. Kalistani media described the Valruzian President as having gained kind of "celebrity status" in home soil, and praised the symbolism of Kalistan becoming the first foreign state visited under Pawlik’s term and, according to palace insiders, potentially the first destination of the Empress-in-Waiting once she begins her training visits abroad.

Shortly after arrival, President Pawlik attended a Formal Audience with the Empress-in-Waiting, the Chancellor and the Empress Regent, with the Regent addressing the President on her behalf. Diplomatic sources confirm that President Pawlik used the meeting to reaffirm Valruzia’s respect for Kalistan's institutions and to emphasise shared priorities in education, scientific research, industrial development and military cooperation.

During the audience, Pawlik secured a preliminary agreement for Kalistan to purchase the new VS-100 next-generation jets, developed in Valruzia, alongside deeper cooperation on radar and avionics. In return, Kalistan signalled its willingness to support Valruzia’s space programme contributing with expertise in security, monitoring and satellite operations. From the biomedical side, Pawlik assured the Kalistani royal family that Valruzia would continue to provide privileged access to its cutting-edge research on vaccines, rare-disease treatments and molecular therapeutics.

Following these formal proceedings, the President then attended a more informal audience in the palace gardens, with a lighter reception with tea, cake and a more relaxed conversation and this time, without the attendance of the Empress-in-Waiting. Attendees described Pawlik's appearance as "effortlessly charismatic", praising her ability to connect with guests, her fluency in Egelian – one of the languages the President is fluent in, along with Luthorian, Istalian and her native Valruzian –, and a curiosity that happened when the President even accepted, with a smile, a tasting of Kalistan’s own cannabis cultivation. "Wherever you go, do as you see" were the words of the Valruzian President.

As described, the next few days will be spend by the President taking care of economic matters. With Valruzia’s VS-100 next-generation jets entering their final stage of development, Kalistani officials from AeroKal and KMC have signalled strong interest in either joining the development program or purchasing units once mass production begins, as Kalistan is reportedly eager to integrate the aircraft into its future air-mobility strategy and has hinted at possible collaboration in radar and avionics research. Sources from Pawlik’s entourage confirm that Valruzia is open to expanding industrial partnerships with Kalistan, especially in the defence-aerospace sector, which has grown significantly under the Nowik administration’s high-tech industrial incentives. But not all will be business meetings. President Pawlik will also be taken to visit historical landmarks around the country, as well as Kalistani university campuses, by her explicit desire.

The President is also expected to extend a formal invitation for the Empress-in-Waiting to undertake her first training diplomatic visit abroad in Valruzia. The Kalistani side has already expressed that such a trip would be seen as a valuable educational step for the young future monarch, and discussions on allowing her to pursue a future exchange year at a Valruzian university are also reportedly on the table.

As her agenda will continue with a visit to Istalia scheduled next, analysts praise Pawlik's strategic choice of Kalistan as her first destination after years of political turmoil between both nations due to the diverging characters of the governments of both nations. As a sign of that, this afternoon before putting an end to Pawlik's first day of visit to Kalistan, she gave a speech in front of a huge audience precisely at one of those university campuses in the capital, in which some political analysts describe as a feeling in the air towards Pawlik to be "almost like a rock star".

Among shouts and cheers more common in massive concerts than in political speeches, the Valruzian President ended her discourse in a perfect Egelian: "Un verdadero amigo nunca te dice lo que tú quieres escuchar, te dice la verdad y lo que es mejor para ti, porque la verdadera amistad no se ve en los momentos fáciles, sino en los difíciles" ["A true friend never tells you what you want to hear, they tell you the truth and what is best for you, because true friendship is not seen in easy times, but in difficult ones."]

---

---

---

---

Following Klaudia Nowik's surprise resignation as leader of the sovereignty party two months ago, the party finally learned this afternoon who will take the reins and lead the party at least until the next elections. The chosen one is none other than Krystian Barela, a 34-year-old trade unionist, college professor and labor lawyer from Gryfit, with an aggressive rhetoric who has campaigned to “stop communist populism” and Valruzia's “extremist drift” and who, according to some analysts consulted, could damage both the KPW and Workers' Vanguard.

Communist Party of Valruzia (KPW): 25,402,617 votes, 25.12%, 154 seats (-60).

Sovereign Valruzia (SW): 23,758,570 votes, 23.49%, 146 seats (+37).

Forward Valruzia (NW): 22,971,869 votes, 22.71%, 141 seats (+21).

Workers' Vanguard (RA): 12,924,131 votes, 12.78%, 76 seats (+11).

Our Homeland (NO): 7,141,092 votes, 7.06%, 41 seats (-5).

Valruzian Alliance (SWA): 4,889,409 votes, 4.83%, 24 seats (-10).

Dignity and Progress (GiP): 3,377,731 votes, 3.34%, 19 seats (+6).