Tusk offers Nawrocki one-to-one talks to defuse Poland's court crisis

Tusk offers one-to-one talks

Tusk spoke after a meeting of the National Security Council. Asked about timing, he said the date would not be disclosed.

"I am ready this week for a one-to-one meeting so that we can consider how to reduce this tension permanently," Tusk told a press conference. He accepted that both sides would probably stick to their positions on many issues. But he argued they carry a shared responsibility. "We both feel a shared responsibility to try, in the face of the mounting threat from the east, to look wherever it is possible for agreement on security and internal order, and to calm these emotions," he said. "Sometimes such a face to face conversation, in calm, brings certain solutions."

The president's office confirmed the request had arrived. Spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz said the public would be told once a date is set.

Presidential minister Marcin Przydacz noted that Nawrocki travels to Slovakia on Wednesday for a meeting of Visegrad Group presidents. "I hope that during that time the prime minister will not be using the police to take over any constitutional bodies of the state," he said.

From court order to police lines

The trigger came on Friday, when the Tribunal announced that judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska had suspended its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, for one month and taken charge as acting president. She cited Article 130 of Poland's Law on the Organisation of Common Courts, which lets a judge be relieved of duties when the dignity of the court or the essential interests of the service require immediate removal.

Nawrocki turned his plane back from a trip to Senegal on Friday evening and entered the building that night. Police surrounded the court. Police said they detained three protesters on Friday night after some threw objects at officers and tried to break through the security fence around the court. Hundreds gathered outside. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński addressed the crowd.

The Tribunal's own X account called the events a "coup d'etat" and insisted Święczkowski remained in office.

Nawrocki convened crisis talks with party representatives on Saturday. Tusk's Civic Coalition stayed away and no breakthrough emerged. The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, urged all sides not to provoke violence or further escalation.

The bench at the centre

This term the Sejm elected eight judges. Nawrocki swore in three. The other five took their oaths in parliament instead, and Święczkowski barred them from ruling.

Korwin-Piotrowska, one of the five, said she acted under "overriding constitutional necessity." The government says Święczkowski repeatedly broke the law and blocked judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking their posts.

Why the fight matters beyond Warsaw

The Tribunal decides whether laws passed by the Sejm and Senate comply with the constitution. If it cannot sit, courts, offices and citizens may not know which rulings and laws are actually in force.

The Court of Justice of the European Union had said the Tribunal was no longer an impartial court after appointments made under PiS, which governed from 2015 to 2023. On Saturday the European Commission said it was monitoring the crisis. A spokesperson said it was for the Polish authorities to ensure the Tribunal could operate in line with the constitution and EU case law, and that appointing eight new members falls within the Sejm's constitutional powers.

Michael McGrath, the EU justice commissioner, told Politico the Tribunal "needs to be able to function in accordance with the Polish constitution and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU." He stopped short of backing the suspensions.

The Polish bishops' conference appealed for dialogue, warning of a "deep crisis of the state."

What happens next

Korwin-Piotrowska called an assembly of the Tribunal for Nov. 3. Rzeczpospolita reported that none of the judges seated before the current parliament would attend, leaving it short of its quorum of 10.

Tusk's proposed meeting has no disclosed date. Nawrocki is due in Slovakia on Wednesday. Ewa Marciniak of the University of Warsaw told AFP that parliamentary elections due in November 2027 made the standoff more volatile. "We are already in campaign mode and a phase of voter mobilisation," she said. "When political actors pursue goals tied to that mobilisation, there is always a risk of escalation."