Karol Nawrocki, a Polish official, turned his plane around while en route to Senegal and returned home following an incident in which police entered the Constitutional Tribunal the country’s highest court and the head of that court was suspended.
“In a moment like this, the president [or relevant official] should be in Poland,” Nawrocki wrote on X. “I am halting my visit to Senegal. I am returning.”
Police stated that they secured the Tribunal building after dozens of protesters gathered there to demonstrate against the alleged unlawful suspension of the court’s head by the current pro-European government.
According to the police, dangerous objects were also thrown at officers outside the building.
Some protesters outside the court were seen praying, while others held banners with slogans such as “Tusk a symbol of anti-Polish sentiment,” “Down with the Communists and the Tusk government,” and “Stop the destruction of the state.”
Poland’s top judicial institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have become the focal point of an intense conflict between the current pro-European government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the main opposition party, the nationalist-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which held power from 2015 to 2023.
Critics accuse PiS of tightening its political grip on key judicial institutions; certain reforms implemented by the party even led the European Union to impose fines on Poland.
Nawrocki, a supporter of PiS, had previously refused to administer the oath of office to three of the six judges nominated by parliament earlier this year. Bogdan Święczkowski, the head of the Constitutional Tribunal appointed by the PiS government after having served as Deputy Minister of Justice refused to allow judges elected by the current parliamentary majority to assume their duties. According to the Tribunal’s website, Święczkowski was suspended on Friday.
“Restoring the rule of law is our responsibility,” said Tusk, who returned to power in 2023 with a pledge to restore judicial independence. Writing on X, he stated, “After years of lawlessness during the PiS era, this is a difficult process at times painful that requires decisive action. There is no other way.”
Since taking office, the efforts of Tusk’s pro-European administration have been repeatedly blocked by two successive presidents affiliated with PiS, including [Andrzej] Duda.
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki a member of PiS whose coalition, Rozwój Plus, is positioning itself as an alternative to Tusk’s government ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections also took to X to condemn what he described as a “forcible takeover” of the Constitutional Tribunal.
“Justice cannot be achieved through coercion,” Morawiecki remarked, adding, “Tusk will go to any lengths to cling to power… We will not accept Belarus-style tactics in Poland!”
“It is true: a state coup is underway,” wrote Zbigniew Ziobro, the former PiS Minister of Justice, on X. “If someone were to forcibly enter the Prime Minister’s office and seize it, we all know what that would be called… It is an open, criminal assault on the constitutional order… That is why I call for resistance resistance that is loud, firm, unified, and fearless.”
“A judge, whose oath was never accepted by President Nawrocki, has declared herself the head of the Constitutional Tribunal and suspended its leadership, while the police have surrounded the building,” Morawiecki added. “This is not how the rule of law is restored. The crisis within the Tribunal is real, but replacing one set of controversial principles with an even more extreme set only invites the next government to do the exact same thing.”
Tom Rose, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, issued a statement on social media, which read in part: “The events unfolding tonight at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal are extremely serious.
We are witnessing an extraordinary clash between the government’s exercise of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution. Both sides present starkly different accounts of what happened and why.
Regardless of what the facts may ultimately reveal, the thousands of people gathered outside the Tribunal are turning an already dangerous situation into an even more volatile one.
The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that escalates further. The United States stands with Poland. It is not our place to make judgments or interfere in its internal affairs. Our concern lies with the stability, security, and democratic future of a country we are proud to call our friend and ally.”
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