Polish president calls emergency talks after Constitutional Tribunal confrontation

WARSAW — Polish President Karol Nawrocki called emergency consultations with parliamentary parties Saturday, accusing the government of violating the country’s constitutional order following an overnight confrontation at the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw.”Tonight, there was a violation of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland and a forcible takeover of a constitutional state body,” Nawrocki said.The president issued the statement after spending several hours inside the disputed tribunal building, having cut short an official visit to Senegal and returned to Warsaw late Friday as tensions over control of the court escalated.He warned that the confrontation threatened Poland’s internal security and called for urgent political consultations.”In connection with the threat to the internal security of the Republic of Poland, I am convening urgent consultations today with representatives of parliamentary forces in order to stabilize the political situation and restore constitutional order,” he said.After returning to Warsaw, Nawrocki met First President of the Supreme Court Zbigniew Kapinski before arriving at the Constitutional Tribunal around 1 a.m.Inside the building, he confronted Anna Korwin-Piotrowska and other judges whose appointments he and the tribunal’s previous leadership do not recognize.”We are judges of the Constitutional Tribunal,” Korwin-Piotrowska told him.”You are not judges of the Constitutional Tribunal,” Nawrocki replied, according to video footage recorded inside the building.Nawrocki remained at the tribunal until shortly before 5 a.m.He later called for police officers to leave the court grounds and said he had enabled Bartlomiej Sochanski, whom he recognizes as the tribunal’s lawful vice president, to enter the building.Dispute over control of Constitutional TribunalThe confrontation marked a sharp escalation in the dispute between Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government over the legitimacy and control of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal.The standoff erupted Friday after Korwin-Piotrowska announced the temporary suspension of Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski and Vice President Sochanski.The tribunal’s official account on X, controlled by its previous leadership, rejected the decision and claimed that the institution’s website had been unlawfully taken over.The previous leadership also accused those involved of carrying out a “coup d’état.”Police were deployed around the tribunal but said officers had not entered the building.Tusk defended efforts to reform institutions shaped during the eight years of government by the Law and Justice party, arguing that restoring the rule of law required “decisive action.”Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Waldemar Zurek criticized Nawrocki’s conduct inside the tribunal and called for prosecutors to examine the incident.Two Polish ambassadors resign amid crisisThe political confrontation also prompted the resignation of two Polish ambassadors.Pawel Soloch, Poland’s ambassador to Romania and a former senior official in President Andrzej Duda’s administration, resigned Saturday.Soloch said the “attempted unlawful takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal” meant he could no longer continue in his position.His resignation followed that of Poland’s ambassador to China, Jakub Kumoch, late Friday.The government, meanwhile, defended the change of control at the tribunal.Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Saturday that the “most senior judge of the new majority took control of the Tribunal building and asked police for protection.”He accused the opposition of refusing to accept the change in control.”The populist opposition unfortunately does not want to accept the loss of control over the Tribunal,” Sikorski said.”The democratically elected government will continue to uphold the Constitution,” he added.