Polish president meets Supreme Court chief amid Constitutional Tribunal standoff

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Polish President Karol Nawrocki returned to Warsaw late Friday after cutting short a trip to Senegal and met Supreme Court First President Zbigniew Kapinski amid an escalating standoff over control of the Constitutional Tribunal.

Nawrocki landed shortly before 10 pm local time (2100GMT) after turning his plane around above Spain, saying the president had to be in Poland because of events at the court.

Kapinski earlier condemned the events at the tribunal and said disputes over constitutional institutions could not justify actions that paralyzed them or stripped them of authority.

He said the constitution and law set the limits of state power, “not political decisions or demonstrations of force.”

The confrontation remained tense late Friday as opposition politicians and demonstrators gathered outside the tribunal.

Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused the government of preparing to use force against opponents and urged them to “win the battle for Poland.”

Piotr Duda, head of the Solidarity trade union, also sharply escalated the rhetoric, addressing Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski and Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek. “Do you want a war? Then you shall have one,” he said, calling on Solidarity members to gather outside the tribunal.

US Ambassador Tom Rose described the situation as “very serious” and said the two sides were presenting “diametrically different versions” of events.

“We may be witnessing an unprecedented confrontation concerning the government’s use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution,” Rose said.

He urged state officials, police and demonstrators to avoid actions that could provoke violence or further escalation, adding that Washington would not judge or interfere in Poland’s internal dispute.

The crisis also drew comment from Moscow, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova mocking Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski over the confrontation.

Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said she had assumed control of the tribunal, indicated late Friday that Nawrocki could come to the court for talks, but only without accompanying officials.

She said conditions had been prepared for a meeting with the president, while rejecting the possibility of other officials entering with him because of security concerns.

Police remained deployed around the tribunal but said officers had not entered the building.

The standoff began after orders appeared to suspend Tribunal President Bogdan Swieczkowski and Vice President Bartlomiej Sochanski. The tribunal’s account on US social media platform X rejected the move as illegal and accused those involved of a “coup d’état.”