Polish President Turns His Plane Around After Police Enter the Constitutional Tribunal and Its President Is Suspended
Karol Nawrocki and opposition leaders call it a coup. Prime Minister Donald Tusk says restoring the rule of law is a duty. The U.S. ambassador says both sides give sharply different accounts and urges calm.
A dispute over Poland's top court has turned into a street standoff, Fox News reports, citing the Associated Press and Reuters.
The events. President Karol Nawrocki was flying to Senegal when police entered the Constitutional Tribunal and its president was suspended. He posted on X, "At such a moment, the President must be in Poland," and said he was returning. Police said they secured the building after dozens of protesters gathered to oppose what they called the wrongful suspension of the tribunal's president, Bogdan Swieczkowski, by the pro-European government. Police said dangerous objects were thrown at officers. Some protesters prayed. Signs attacked Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The tribunal's website says Swieczkowski was suspended Friday.
The background. The top courts have been a main fight between Tusk's government and the national-conservative Law and Justice party, which ruled from 2015 to 2023. Critics accuse that party of putting the courts under political control, and some of its changes led the EU to impose fines. Fox says Nawrocki, an ally of the party, refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament this year. Swieczkowski, appointed under the previous government, declined to let judges elected by the current majority take up their duties. Fox says two presidents aligned with the party have vetoed Tusk's efforts.
The reaction. Tusk wrote, "Restoring the rule of law is our duty," and that the process is "sometimes painful." Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki denounced "the forceful takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal" and said, "We do not consent to Belarusian methods in Poland!" Former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote, "a coup d'etat is underway" and called for resistance. U.S. Ambassador Tom Rose said both sides offer "sharply different accounts" and that "America is on Poland's side," adding that it is not for the U.S. to judge or interfere.
Note for readers: "coup" is the word of the president and opposition figures, while the government describes restoring the rule of law. Fox does not report any court ruling on what happened. Our earlier story on Hungary and Poland and migration policy is on the site.