The Polish President will meet on Saturday (October 31, 2026) with representatives of the majority and opposition parties in an attempt to find a way out of the political and institutional crisis, after it recorded a remarkable escalation on Friday with the intervention of the police at the headquarters of the Constitutional Court in Warsaw. A statement read by Pavel Schiefernacker, Director of the Office of President Karol Nawrocki, before the Constitutional Court early Saturday morning: “In light of the threat facing the internal security of the Republic of Poland, today I call for urgent consultations with the participation of representatives of parliamentary forces.”
The Constitutional Court, which the European Union believes is excessively subordinate to political authority, was the focus of a conflict between Brussels and the nationalist Law and Justice Party during its rule between 2015 and 2023. Since 2015, the Law and Justice Party government has appointed judges with declared political allegiances to the court, something that is not recognized by the European Union, nor by the current center-right Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk.
Since his return to power in 2023, Tusk, who previously assumed the presidency of the European Council, has pledged to resolve this crisis. But his efforts have not succeeded so far, as Polish President Nawirucki has refused to ratify the appointments proposed by the government and parliament regarding the court.
After a new stumble with the impossibility of voting on the court’s budget, events suddenly accelerated on Friday, as riot police stormed the court’s headquarters and imposed a cordon around it, while the Minister of Justice, who also holds the position of Attorney General, requested the lifting of immunity from the president of the court, who was appointed by the right-wing Law and Justice Party when he was in power.
A majority-appointed judge recently announced that she would temporarily preside over the court. Tusk said, "It is our duty to restore the rule of law. After years of illegal practices under the Law and Justice Party, it is a difficult, sometimes painful, process that requires firm action. There is no other way."
The deployment of Polish security forces came at a time when President Nawirucki was on his way to Senegal, where he was scheduled to attend the opening of the Youth Olympic Games. However, he soon returned and headed to court on Friday evening. Television footage showed that he was able to enter the headquarters after he was accused of pushing judges who tried to prevent him from doing so, according to what television footage showed, and then he left the court late on Friday night - Saturday.
Supporters of the Law and Justice Party have been demonstrating for several weeks in front of the Constitutional Court, expressing their support for its judges. In a statement to an Agence France-Presse correspondent, one of the demonstrators, Tomasz Zaleski, denounced what is happening and said, "It is a coup carried out by Prime Minister Donald Tusk... He is trampling on our constitutional rights."
After the police intervention on Friday, the leader of the Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, joined the demonstrators, along with other officials from the right and far right.
Regarding the administration of the Constitutional Court, a state of complete confusion prevailed after a turbulent night. Judge Anna Corvin-Piotrowska, who was appointed by the current government, announced the suspension of the duties of Chief Justice Bogdan Świękovski, indicating that she would assume his position temporarily. However, the latter enjoys the support of the opposition and the president, and for his part confirms that he will continue in his position.
For his part, the director of the President's Office on Saturday accused Donald Tusk of "creating a crisis in the country" and "exposing Polish security to danger."
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish President Lech Walesa announced on Saturday his support for Prime Minister Donald Tusk. “The homeland is in danger,” Walesa wrote in a post on his Facebook page, adding: “I stand by your side on the front line, whatever the circumstances,” and called on his comrades “from our common struggle” to support the cause.
In August 1980, Walesa led a strike at the "Lenin" shipyard in the port of Gdańsk, which forced the communist government to make concessions and resulted in the establishment of the "Solidarity" union, the first independent trade union in the communist camp. The electrician, known for his distinctive moustache, became a symbol of Poland's struggle for freedom.
As a reaction to this development and an embodiment of the division prevailing in the country, the Polish ambassadors to China and Romania announced their resignation, and they are close to the nationalist movement.
The US ambassador to Warsaw, Tom Rose, expressed on the “X” platform his regret at what he considered an “unprecedented confrontation” related to “the independence and authority of a constitutional institution.” He called on all parties to "refrain from any action that might lead to violence" in a "friendly and ally" country that is a member of NATO, and whose stability is crucial to Western support for Kiev.
