Polish President Karol Nawrocki has held crisis talks with political leaders as a dispute over the independence of the country’s top constitutional court deepens. Representatives from nationalist, far-right, and some governing coalition parties attended the consultations at the presidential palace on Saturday, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing centrist party, Civic Coalition, chose not to participate.
Urgent Consultations and Prime Minister’s Response
President Nawrocki stated that he convened the urgent consultations due to the threat to Poland’s internal security presented by the sudden suspension on Friday of the Constitutional Tribunal’s chief judge, Bogdan Swieczkowski. No breakthrough had emerged by Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, in a Saturday evening speech addressing the ongoing crisis, Prime Minister Tusk accused conservative nationalist opposition leaders of wanting to destroy democracy and the rule of law. Tusk stated that organizations and politicians have existed in Poland for years with the desire to dismantle democracy and the rule of law. Supporters of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) gathered outside the court on Saturday, continuing protests that have lasted for weeks in support of judges aligned with PiS.
Constitutional Crisis and International Reactions
The Constitutional Tribunal serves as Poland’s highest court for deciding constitutional matters and has remained at the center of a years-long political saga regarding the politicization of Polish courts, which Tusk attributes to the former right-wing PiS government. Swieczkowski, appointed by PiS during its 2015-2023 administration, faced accusations of utilizing his powers as head of the court to block parliament from electing new judges. Tusk maintained that the court’s judges lacked political neutrality and that removing Swieczkowski constituted a painful yet necessary step to restore the rule of law following years of erosion under PiS rule. The court’s official X account characterized the government’s action as a coup d’état on Friday. President Nawrocki, a right-wing figure, has also blocked nominations to the court under his administration. A primary complaint raised by Tusk and his pro-European party involved the court’s PiS-aligned judges frequently ruling in favor of domestic legislation over European Union law.
The European Commission urged President Nawrocki on Saturday to accept the nomination of new judges at the center of the country’s constitutional crisis, as reported by the AFP news agency. Additionally, US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose appealed for calm across all sides. Rose wrote in a social media post on X that the last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse.
