Polish president calls crisis talks after court standoff

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called urgent talks with parliamentary representatives on Saturday after a confrontation at the country's Constitutional Tribunal escalated a political dispute over control of the court.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called urgent talks with parliamentary representatives on Saturday after a confrontation at the country’s Constitutional Tribunal escalated a political dispute over control of the court.

Nawrocki cut short an official visit to Senegal and returned to Warsaw on Friday after Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended the tribunal’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and assumed responsibility for leading the institution.

The latest confrontation began after seven judges elected by parliament entered the tribunal’s headquarters. Security staff were reportedly told to leave, while Święczkowski and Vice-President Bartłomiej Sochański were denied entry amid disagreements over the legitimacy of the appointments.

Korwin-Piotrowska subsequently announced that she was taking charge of the tribunal and suspended Święczkowski from his duties.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the building, where some attempted to breach security barriers. Police said three people had been detained.

Nawrocki arrived at the tribunal overnight with Zbigniew Kapiński, the first president of Poland’s Supreme Court. Video footage circulated by a judge showed the president pushing past people in the building’s entrance during a scuffle. Accounts of the confrontation differed, with the president’s representatives and judges accusing each other of using force.

In a statement on Saturday, Nawrocki described the events as a “violation of constitutional order” and a forcible takeover of a state institution.

“Last night, the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland was violated and a constitutional state body was taken over by force,” he said.

He called for the restoration of the legal order and demanded that government-deployed security forces leave the tribunal’s premises.

Nawrocki said he was convening urgent consultations with representatives of parliamentary groups because of what he described as a threat to Poland’s internal security.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek criticised the president’s conduct, saying it was unacceptable for someone protected by immunity to force his way into the building and attack judges. He told broadcaster TVN24 that he hoped prosecutors would take action.

The dispute also prompted the resignations of Poland’s ambassadors to Romania and China. Paweł Soloch, the ambassador in Bucharest, said on X that he could no longer serve following what he described as an attempt to unlawfully take over the Constitutional Tribunal. Ambassador Jakub Kumoch also announced his resignation from the post in Beijing.

US Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose urged restraint, saying the opposing sides were offering sharply different accounts of the events. He warned that the presence of thousands of demonstrators outside the tribunal risked making an already dangerous situation more volatile.

The confrontation is the latest escalation in a long-running dispute over the tribunal’s composition and independence. The conflict dates back to 2015, when the then-ruling Law and Justice party appointed judges to seats that had already been filled, triggering a prolonged battle over the court’s legitimacy.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European government says it is seeking to restore the rule of law, while Nawrocki and the nationalist opposition have challenged its efforts to reshape the judiciary.