Polish President Karol Nawrocki called urgent crisis talks with party representatives this morning to try to resolve the crisis triggered by the suspension of the President of the Constitutional Court , Bogdan Świeczkowski, by pro-European Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Nawrocki, who belongs to the right-wing nationalist PiS party, opposed to Tusk, decided to reverse course in the middle of the night and return to Warsaw while on a state visit to Senegal, while police have been surrounding the High Court since last night, the target of anger from protesters from the president's party who are chanting "coup d'état".
Nawrocki said the talks were necessary to defuse a "threat to internal security."
According to his chief of staff, Paweł Szefernaker, upon returning to the capital, Nawrocki met with Świeczkowski and the court's first president, Zbigniew Kapiński, before heading to the courthouse. Footage from local broadcasters showed Nawrocki pushing his way through the crowd to enter the building.
U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose issued a warning to all parties: "Do not take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation."
For weeks, Tusk's government has been trying to remove the Court's judges, appointed by the previous PiS-led government, which remained in power from 2015 to 2023. The Court has often ruled in favor of Polish legislation over European Union law; for this reason, the EU has accused Poland's highest judicial body of being too close to the nationalist political establishment of the time.
(Unioneonline)
