Poland will take in 60 Syrian refugee families of the Christian faith, Warsaw said Tuesday just days after it opposed European Union plans for binding quotas on asylum seekers for its 28 member states.

"We'll welcome 60 families for a start," Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz told reporters in Warsaw.

Conservative opposition challenger Andrzej Duda on Sunday won a surprise victory in Poland's presidential run-off, trumping incumbent centrist Bronislaw Komorowski with promises of change and generous social spending.

An MEP and lawyer with a populist streak, Duda scored 53 percent support ahead of Komorowski, who mustered 47 percent, exit polls showed.

Poles began voting Sunday in the second round of a too-close-to-call presidential election with incumbent centrist Bronislaw Komorowski trying to fend off the populist challenge of conservative newcomer Andrzej Duda.

The result is also being billed as a pointer to the outcome of the general election later this year, with analysts saying that disillusioned voters seeking change will play a key role in both votes.

The knives are out in Poland's presidential campaign as incumbent centrist Bronislaw Komorowski risks losing the May 24 run-off to conservative challenger Andrzej Duda, possibly setting the tone for this autumn's parliamentary election.

The 62-year-old Komorowski was stunned by his narrow first round election loss to Duda, a 43-year-old populist candidate from the main conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS).

Poland has paid part of the damages to two men detained in a secret CIA prison on Polish soil before they were transferred to Guantanamo Bay, the foreign ministry told Agence France Presse on Monday.

Last July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Poland for hosting secret CIA prisons, saying it knowingly abetted the unlawful imprisonment and torture of Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian, and Saudi citizen Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2002-2003.

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski's shock setback in the first round of the presidential election spells serious trouble for the governing liberals just months ahead of the parliamentary polls.

The 62-year-old incumbent conceded defeat late Sunday to Andrzej Duda -- a 42-year-old lawyer backed by the Law and Justice (PiS) conservative opposition party -- whom he will face in the May 24 run-off vote.

Conservative opposition challenger Andrzej Duda pulled off a surprise first-round lead in Poland's Sunday presidential ballot, trumping incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski ahead of a May 24 run-off, an exit poll said.

Duda scored 34.8 percent support ahead of Komorowski, who mustered 32.2 percent, with political newcomer rock star Pawel Kukiz exiting the race with 20.3 percent, according to Poland's TVP public television broadcaster.

Poles voted Sunday in presidential elections after a lackluster campaign focused on national security and social issues, with incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski expected to win, but not without a struggle.

The 62-year-old historian, who was elected in 2010 and is close to the governing centrist Civic Platform (PO) party, appears unlikely to secure a second five-year term without a run-off vote on May 24.

Warsaw officials said Wednesday they have decided to revoke the residency permit of Leonid Sviridov, a Russian journalist with the RIA Novosti news agency, following spying allegations. 

Poland's foreign ministry had already rescinded Sviridov's press accreditation in October at the request of the internal security agency ABW, which suspects him of espionage, according to local media.

Lithuanian border guards said Tuesday they had denied entry to eight Russian bikers including at least one member of a pro-Kremlin group attempting that had planned a controversial WWII victory ride through Europe.

The border guard service said it turned away eight Russian citizens at the Baltic state's borders with Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on Monday and Tuesday.