This conflict arose after the suspension of Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski, a holdover from the previous nationalist administration
Photo : AP
Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki has accused Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government of staging a forced takeover of the country’s top court, escalating a long-running political battle over control of the judiciary.
The row erupted after Bogdan Swieczkowski, president of the Constitutional Tribunal and an appointee of the previous nationalist government, was suspended on Friday. The tribunal said its longest-serving judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, had taken charge of the court following the suspension.
Nawrocki, an ally of the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, described the move as an attack on the country’s constitutional order.
“Tonight, there was a breach of public order in the Republic of Poland and a forcible takeover of a constitutional body,” he said in a statement read by an aide outside the court early on Saturday.
The president had turned back mid-flight from a trip to Africa to address the situation. He subsequently headed to the court in Warsaw, where riot police were deployed as several hundred protesters gathered to demand Swieczkowski’s reinstatement. Nawrocki also called for urgent political consultations.
Tusk defended his government’s actions, saying it was seeking to restore the rule of law. The European Union had previously accused the Law and Justice government of undermining judicial independence.
“This process is difficult, at times even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” Tusk wrote on X.
The latest confrontation is part of a wider political dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal that has effectively paralysed the institution. Tusk’s pro-European coalition and Nawrocki’s nationalist camp have repeatedly refused to recognise judicial appointments made by the opposing side.
The dispute dates back to 2015, when the Law and Justice Party sought to appoint judges to positions that had already been filled by the previous government. Its nominees subsequently secured a majority on the tribunal.
Critics in Poland and abroad questioned the court’s independence and impartiality, with the European Court of Justice ruling in December 2025 that the tribunal had violated principles of EU law.