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Polish President Nawrocki confronts Tusk-backed ‘head of court’ Korwin-Piotrowska as cops surround constitutional court - watch
Polish President Karol Nawrocki was seen on video confronting the Donald Tusk-backed ‘head of court’ Anna Korwin-Piotrowska as the crisis deepened.
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Polish President Karol Nawrocki was seen on video confronting the Donald Tusk-backed ‘head of court’ Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, amid a deepening crisis in the European nation.
The situation came to a head on Friday after the Constitutional Tribunal said that its longest-serving judge, Korwin-Piotrowska, had suspended Bogdan Swieczkowski, the tribunal's president who was appointed by Tusk's far-right predecessor. After Korwin-Piotrowska assumed charge, Nawrocki, who was headed to Senegal said on X that he needed to be in Poland, and turned his plane around.
Videos shared by Russian state-backed media RT showed Nawrocki ‘forcing his way’ into Poland's Constitutional Tribunal amid the showdown in the nation. A later video showed his confrontation with Korwin-Piotrowska, where he reportedly said, “You are not the judges of the Constitutional Court.”
Polish riot police deployed as protesters take to streets
Police have surrounded the constitutional court after the chief justice's suspension led to a confrontation between the centrist government and the nationalist right, as per AFP.
Cops were deployed to guard the court entrance as the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) protested Swieczkowski's ouster. The court's official account on X said there had been a 'coup d'etat' and some demonstrators could be heard chanting “Tusk traitor”.
Also Read | US envoy in Poland urges calm as constitutional tribunal crisis sparks ‘coup’ claims
Cops said that three people had been arrested as well as some tried to make their way into the court premises.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, the attorney general, told journalists he requested that legal immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski be lifted.
"This court has become private property; we must restore its proper functioning," he added. Tusk, a pro-EU figure, also justified the action in a comment on X. "Restoring the rule of law is our duty," he said. “After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way,” Tusk added.
What is the issue with the Constitutional Tribunal?
The latest twist comes after a long-running political dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal in Poland. The institution has been effectively paralysed, Reuters noted, with the pro-European government and the nationalist president refusing to recognise candidates put forth by the other side.
The dispute goes back to 2015 when the nationalist Law and Justice wanted to appoint judges to seats which were already filled up by the former government. While nominees gained a majority on the Constitutional Tribunal, critics at home and abroad said that the court did not meet the standards of an independent and impartial tribunal established by law anymore.
Then, Tusk's coalition took office in 2023 and vowed to restore the rule of law and reform the court, but Law and Justice ally Nawrocki has reportedly acted to thwart said efforts since he became president in 2025.
Earlier in 2026, Nawrocki refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament. Swieczkowski, a former deputy justice minister in the Law and Justice administration, declined to seat judges that were elected by the current parliamentary majority. Meanwhile, in September, the parliament appointed Tusk ally Maciej Berek to the tribunal, with critics saying it undermined the goal stated by the government to restore checks and balances.
(With AFP and Reuters inputs)
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