by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

WARSAW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Polish President Karol Nawrocki has accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of forcibly taking over the country’s top court, deepening a political crisis that has brought riot police and protesters onto the streets of Warsaw.

The confrontation erupted Friday after Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the longest-serving judge of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, announced the suspension of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański. She declared herself the court’s acting leader, although the move was immediately challenged.

The move angered President Nawrocki, a conservative ally of the former nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government.

He cut short a flight to Senegal, ordering his aircraft to turn around midflight. After returning to Poland, Nawrocki entered the court building amid heightened security and protests.

PRESIDENT CONDEMNS MOVE

The president arrived amid protests involving hundreds of demonstrators outside the tribunal, where riot police formed a security cordon. Police detained three people after protesters breached a fence and threw objects at officers, officials said.

Like the protesters, Nawrocki denounced the leadership change as an unconstitutional seizure of power.

“Last night, the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland was violated and a constitutional state body was taken over by force,” he declared, demanding that security forces withdraw from the court.

Opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński, whose PiS party governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, also condemned the move, accusing Tusk’s administration of undermining judicial independence.

COURT’S CRUCIAL ROLE

However, Tusk defended efforts to overhaul the judiciary, arguing that his government was restoring the rule of law after years of political interference under PiS.

“Restoring the rule of law is our duty,” the prime minister wrote on social media platform X. “After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.”

Yet Święczkowski, a former deputy justice minister under PiS, rejected his suspension and insisted he remained the court’s legitimate president.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has accused Święczkowski and his deputy of preventing newly appointed judges from taking office and sought to have their legal immunity lifted.

EU RULE OF LAW CONCERNS

The standoff raised questions about the future of the Constitutional Tribunal, which decides whether laws comply with Poland’s constitution and safeguards constitutional rights. Its rulings can determine whether legislation remains valid, making its independence crucial to the country’s democracy.

The dispute reflects a wider struggle over Poland’s judiciary that began in 2015, when PiS sought to appoint judges to positions already filled by the previous government. Critics argued that subsequent changes weakened judicial independence and increased political control over the courts.

Those reforms triggered years of tensions with the European Union, which accused Warsaw of undermining judicial independence and withheld billions of euros in funding.

Since taking office in 2023, Tusk’s pro-European coalition has sought to reverse the changes, but conservative opponents argue that his government is now interfering with the judiciary itself.

POLITICAL TENSIONS

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose warned against allowing the confrontation to escalate, urging both sides to avoid actions that could provoke violence.

The confrontation comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected in 2027, when PiS hopes to regain power.

Amid the tensions, Nawrocki called for emergency political consultations to restore what he describes as constitutional order, warning that the confrontation threatened Poland’s internal security.

With rival groups claiming authority over the Constitutional Tribunal, the dispute threatens to deepen political divisions in Poland, a key European Union member and ally in the NATO military alliance.

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