Polish President Karol Nawrocki convened urgent crisis talks with party representatives on Saturday morning in an attempt to contain the confrontation triggered by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's suspension of Constitutional Court President Bogdan Swieczkowski, ANSA reports. Nawrocki abandoned a state visit to Senegal overnight and flew back to Warsaw as police, since Friday evening, have ringed the court's headquarters, where demonstrators loyal to the president's party have gathered and accuse the government of a "coup." According to ANSA, Nawrocki said the talks were needed to defuse a "threat to internal security."
Why it matters
The standoff places Poland's two most powerful offices in direct conflict and puts the country's highest judicial body at the centre of a public order flashpoint. Nawrocki belongs to the nationalist right-wing PiS, the party that appointed Swieczkowski and which governed from 2015 to 2023; Tusk leads the pro-European camp that replaced it. The dispute therefore reopens the long-running argument over who controls the court — an argument that previously set Warsaw against Brussels.
The court has frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over European Union law, ANSA notes. That record led the EU to accuse the tribunal of being too close to the nationalist political power of the earlier era. Tusk's government has spent weeks trying to remove judges appointed under the previous PiS-led executive, according to ANSA.
A return in the middle of the night
Nawrocki was travelling to Senegal on a state visit when he reversed course and headed home, ANSA reports. His chief of staff, Paweł Szefernaker, said that once back in the capital the president met Swieczkowski and the court's first president, Zbigniew Kapiński, before making his way to the tribunal's premises. Footage broadcast by local stations showed Nawrocki pushing through the crowd to get inside the building, according to ANSA.
The suspension that set off the crisis was ordered by Tusk, whom ANSA describes as the europhile premier. The president's decision to cut short a foreign trip and call in party leaders signals that the government and the presidency are now negotiating through a confrontation rather than around it.
Washington weighs in
The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, issued a warning to all sides, ANSA reports: "Do not take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation." The intervention puts an outside voice on record urging restraint while the court building remains surrounded.
The scene outside the tribunal has become the visible face of the dispute. Supporters of the president's party have directed their anger at the government's move against the court's leadership, and the police cordon has held since Friday evening, per ANSA. Inside, the court's suspended president and its first president have now met the head of state.
What to watch
Whether the Saturday talks produce any agreed formula — and whether the crowd outside the court disperses — will indicate if the confrontation is being contained or is set to widen.
