Poland’s Constitutional Crisis Escalates as President Backs Suspended Judge, Police Detain Protesters

WARSAW, Poland — Anti-government demonstrators gathered overnight outside Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal to protest the suspension of the court’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski, a move they attribute to the country’s pro-European government. Police detained three protesters after individuals threw objects at officers and attempted to breach the security perimeter surrounding the building.

The political standoff intensified Friday evening when President Karol Nawrocki, a critic of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s administration, aborted a flight to Senegal and returned to Warsaw. “At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki posted on X.

Upon landing, Nawrocki proceeded directly to the Constitutional Tribunal, where he stated he assisted the suspended court president in entering the premises. On Saturday morning, the president declared that a “breach of Poland’s constitutional order” had occurred and summoned parliamentary group leaders for an urgent meeting to discuss “stabilizing the political situation.”

The unrest surrounding the long-embattled tribunal threatens to deepen the divide between Tusk’s pro-European coalition and its primary opposition, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party. Poland’s highest judicial bodies have served as a primary flashpoint between the two camps for years.

Critics in Poland and the European Union accuse PiS, which governed from 2015 to 2023, of subordinating key judicial institutions to political control. Reforms enacted under that administration triggered EU financial penalties. Tusk’s government took office in 2023 pledging to restore judicial independence, though its efforts have been repeatedly vetoed by two consecutive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.

The Constitutional Tribunal’s website announced Święczkowski’s suspension Friday evening. Shortly thereafter, protesters — among them PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and far-right politicians — began assembling outside the court. The government contends that Święczkowski repeatedly violated the law and undermined the tribunal’s operations. Appointed under the previous PiS administration, he stands accused by Tusk of blocking judges elected by the current parliamentary majority from assuming their posts.

“Restoring the rule of law is our obligation,” Tusk wrote on X Friday. “After years of lawlessness under PiS, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.” The prime minister had previously vowed to ensure the tribunal is staffed by lawfully appointed judges, acknowledging that his methods may prove controversial.

PiS politicians sharply condemned the suspension. “This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order,” former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X late Friday. “That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless.”

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