Home · World · Oct 31 archive
Polish President Turns Plane Around Amid Constitutional Court Crisis
Confirmed
In Short: Polish President Karol Nawrocki interrupted his flight to Senegal and returned home after police secured the Constitutional Tribunal amid protests over the suspension of its president.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki interrupted his flight to Senegal and returned home after police secured the Constitutional Tribunal amid protests over the suspension of its president. Nawrocki, who is a right-wing independent, landed in Warsaw after turning back over Spain.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court, demonstrating against what they called the wrongful suspension of the top court’s president by the current pro-European government. Police said they were carrying out their statutory duties to maintain public safety and denied interfering with the court's work or forcibly removing its security personnel.
Nawrocki posted on X, “At such a moment, the President must be in Poland.” He met with Zbigniew Kapinski, the first president of Poland's Supreme Court, immediately after returning to the country.
The confrontation unfolded amid a wider dispute over judicial appointments and the tribunal's independence. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in December 2025 that serious irregularities in the appointment of three tribunal judges and its president undermined the institution's independence and impartiality under EU law.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government has been trying for weeks to force out the court's judges, who were appointed by the previous PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023. Demonstrator Tomasz Zaleski told AFP, “Tusk is trampling on our constitutional rights.”
The court's official X social media account said there had been a “coup d'état” and some demonstrators chanted “Tusk traitor” as they condemned the government. Police said demonstrators threw objects at officers and people were arrested after trying to enter the court complex.
The court frequently ruled in favor of Polish legislation over European Union law, and the EU accused Poland's highest court of being too close to the nationalist political power of the time. President Nawrocki called urgent crisis talks with party representatives on Saturday after the dramatic showdown.
What this adds
The incident highlights the ongoing tension between the Polish government and the judiciary, with both sides offering sharply different interpretations of the events at the Constitutional Tribunal.
What's confirmed
- "I'm interrupting my flight to Senegal. I'm returning."
- "At such a moment, the President must be in Poland," Nawrocki posted on X.
- Police said demonstrators threw objects at officers and people were arrested after trying to enter the court complex.
- "The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse," he said on X, adding the country a friend and ally of the United States while voicing concern for its stability.
- "After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way."
- "All persons participating in these actions are committing the crime of a coup d'état."
- (AP) "Restoring the rule of law is our duty," said Tusk, who returned to power in 2023 with a promise to restore the judiciary’s independence.
What's still developing
- The court's leadership later said the website had been unlawfully taken over and insisted the two officials remained in office.
- But the country's president, a right wing independent, has blocked his nominations to the court.
- "In modern Europe, a democratic state cannot function without a constitutional court (...) that acts as a guarantor of citizens' rights and freedoms."
- The project was announced as part of a series of reinterpretations by international directors of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s landmark Dekalog, which was made for Polish television and inspired by the Ten Commandments.
- Riot police surrounded Poland’s constitutional court Friday as a disputed move to suspend its chief sparked protests and accusations of a coup, prompting the country’s conservative president to turn his plane around mid-flight.
- Swieczkowski refused to admit them to the court, setting up Friday’s confrontation, according to Notes from Poland.
- Police said officers were securing the court grounds and had not entered the building, according to Polish Radio, and that they had deployed at the request of Korwin-Piotrowska and Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, citing potential threats to judges and staff. 🚨🇵🇱Polish patriots take to the streets of Warsaw to defend their country from the EU and Donald Tusk!
- Adam Andruszkiewicz, a deputy head of the office, said Nawrocki "will not allow the rule of law to be destroyed by force and Poles to be deprived of basic democratic rights."
- Outside, supporters of the Law and Justice party chanted “Where is the military?” — referencing Nawrocki’s role as commander in chief of the Polish Armed Forces.