Polish President Karol Nawrocki held urgent crisis consultations at the presidential palace on Saturday as a high-stakes institutional dispute over the independence of the nation’s top constitutional court intensified.
The Saturday consultations drew representatives from nationalist, far-right, and select governing coalition parties. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition party boycotted the gathering.
Nawrocki stated that he convened the emergency talks due to what he described as a threat to Poland’s internal security, triggered by the sudden Friday suspension of Constitutional Tribunal Chief Judge Bogdan Swieczkowski. No breakthrough had emerged by Saturday afternoon.
Addressing the nation in a speech on Saturday evening, Tusk delivered a sharp rebuke of conservative nationalist leaders, accusing them of seeking to undermine democratic institutions. Tusk stated that for years certain organizations and politicians in Poland have wanted to destroy democracy and the rule of law.
Meanwhile, supporters of the right-wing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party gathered outside the court on Saturday, continuing demonstrations that have persisted for weeks in backing judges aligned with their faction.
The Constitutional Tribunal, Poland’s highest authority for constitutional matters, has remained locked in a years-long political saga regarding judicial politicization, a dynamic Tusk attributes to the former PiS government that held power from 2015 to 2023.
Swieczkowski, appointed to the court during the PiS administration, faced accusations of exploiting his leadership powers to prevent parliament from electing new judges. Tusk defended the removal as a difficult yet necessary step toward restoring the rule of law following years of institutional erosion.
Conversely, the tribunal’s official account on X characterized the government’s action as a coup d’etat on Friday. Nawrocki, a right-wing figure, has also previously blocked judicial nominations under his own administration.
Tusk and his pro-European allies have long contended that PiS-aligned judges systematically favored domestic legislation over European Union law.
International actors have begun weighing in on the deepening standoff. The European Commission urged Nawrocki on Saturday to accept the nomination of the new judges at the center of the dispute. Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose issued a public appeal for calm on social media, writing that the country cannot afford a confrontation that spirals into a worse crisis.
