Bitter spat between Poland’s pro-Europe PM and pro-Trump president erupts

Poland is in the throes of a constitutional crisis as a battle over the future of the country’s highest court ignites another confrontation between the country’s president and prime minister,

The crisis came to a head on Friday when center-left Prime Minister Donald Tusk moved to remake Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, whose chief justice was appointed by the previous government – the far-right Law and Justice party (PiS).

The judge, Bogdan Święczkowski, was suspended after refusing to allow a new member of the Tribunal, who had been nominated by Tusk and approved by the Polish parliament, from taking his seat. His deputy was also suspended.

The current crisis is the latest and possibly most serious chapter in a long-running dispute over the rule of law in Poland.

Tusk’s pro-European Civic Coalition was elected in 2023, after an election campaign in which he promised to restore the Tribunal’s independence. President Karol Nawrocki, who belongs to PiS, was elected separately last year. Poland’s president has little executive power but plays an important constitutional role.

Since then, deadlock has become crisis.

Nawrocki described Święczkowski’s removal as the chief judge as “a forcible takeover of a constitutional body.” On hearing the news, he abandoned a trip to Africa, ordered his aircraft to turn round and headed straight to the Tribunal.

Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Nawrocki is a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, who said in September: “I endorsed him, and now he’s president and he’s doing a fantastic job.” Nawrocki has suggested a new US military base in Poland will be called “Fort Trump”.

During its eight years in power – until 2023 - PiS appointed several judges to seats on the Tribunal already filled by the previous government.

In 2021, the European Union warned that PiS’ actions posed a “systemic risk to the rule of law in Poland” in undermining the Tribunal’s independence. The European Commission froze $137 billion in EU funding for Poland over concerns about the independence of Polish judges.

The PiS-appointed judges remained in place after Tusk was elected and have obstructed his efforts to nominate new judges. Nawrocki has refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by ‌parliament, ‌while Swieczkowski declined to seat the judges chosen by parliament.

Last week, the latest judge to be approved by parliament – Maciej Berek - was prevented from taking his seat amid scuffles outside the Tribunal in Warsaw.

On Saturday, riot police reinforced security measures around the court in central Warsaw.

Tusk, who has spent much of his time as Prime Minister trying to unstitch the PiS changes to the judiciary, said his government was seeking to restore the rule of law.

“This process is difficult, at times even painful, ‌and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” he said on X Saturday.

In a televised speech Tusk said that “shouting, lies, and brawling cannot be the source of law in Poland, and they never will be.”

He insisted the Tribunal “will function as it should. Also, independently of me and in line with the constitution.”

Analysts say the crisis deepened when parliament approved the nomination of Berek, a close ally of Tusk.

It “contradicts the government’s pledge to depoliticise the Tribunal,” wrote Alberto Allemano, a professor of law at the HEC Paris Business School.

Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images

“The Friday suspension of the Tribunal’s president and vice-president, ordered by one judge and accompanied by a police presence outside the building, is not in itself a “coup”: the stated aim is to restore a lawfully functioning court. But restoring the rule of law must itself be done lawfully,” Allemano wrote on X .

At the same time, “If the Polish government is trying to repair an institution captured under PiS, its opposition is striving to retain some control through illegal means,” he added.

The US ambassador to Poland Tom Rose warned on Friday night that “thousands gathering outside the tribunal make an already dangerous situation more combustible. The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse.”

“I hope everyone involved—government officials, law enforcement, and demonstrators alike, to take a deep breath, and don’t take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation,” Rose said on X.

But it’s unclear how the standoff between Tusk and Nawrocki can be resolved. Neither seems ready to compromise at a time when Poland faces growing security threats – with the war across the border in Ukraine, and sabotage attacks inside Poland that Tusk has attributed to Russia.

Tusk said Saturday of his opponents that it was “no coincidence that they find support among pro-Russian forces around the world.”

Fresh elections are due next year, with Poland’s constitutional order and its political direction – towards or away from deeper integration with Europe – high on the agenda.

波兰正处于宪政危机之中，围绕该国最高法院未来的斗争引发了总统和总理之间的又一次对抗。

这场危机在周五达到了顶峰，当时中左翼总理唐纳德·图斯克着手重组波兰宪法法院，该法院的首席法官是由前任政府——极右翼法律与公正党（PiS）任命的。

法官博格丹·斯维奇科夫斯基因拒绝让图斯克提名并经波兰议会批准的新任法庭成员就职而被停职。他的副手也被停职。

当前的危机是波兰长期以来围绕法治问题的争论中最新也是可能最为严重的篇章。

图斯克领导的亲欧公民联盟在2023年当选总统，他在竞选期间承诺恢复国际法院的独立性。卡罗尔·纳沃茨基总统隶属于法律与公正党（PiS），他于去年单独当选。波兰总统的行政权力有限，但在宪法层面扮演着重要的角色。

从那时起，僵局演变成了危机。

纳沃茨基将希维奇科夫斯基被免去首席法官职务描述为“对宪法机构的强行接管”。听到消息后，他放弃了非洲之行，命令飞机掉头，径直前往法院。

Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto/Getty Images

纳沃茨基是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的坚定支持者，他曾在9月份表示：“我支持他，现在他当上了总统，而且他做得非常出色。”纳沃茨基还建议将美国在波兰新建的军事基地命名为“特朗普堡”。

在执政的八年期间（直到 2023 年），法律与公正党 (PiS) 任命了几位法官填补了前任政府已填补的法庭席位。

2021年，欧盟警告称，波兰执政党法律与公正党（PiS）的行为破坏了国际刑事法院的独立性，对波兰的法治构成“系统性风险”。欧盟委员会因担忧波兰法官的独立性，冻结了对波兰1370亿美元的欧盟资金。

图斯克当选后，由法律与公正党任命的法官仍然留任，并阻挠他提名新法官。纳沃茨基拒绝为议会提名的六名法官中的三名举行宣誓就职仪式，而斯维茨科夫斯基则拒绝让议会选出的法官就职。

上周，最新一位获得议会批准的法官——马切伊·贝雷克——在华沙法院外发生冲突，未能就任。

周六，防暴警察加强了华沙市中心法院周围的安保措施。

图斯克担任总理期间，大部分时间都在努力消除法律与公正党对司法机构的改革，他表示，他的政府正在寻求恢复法治。

“这个过程很艰难，有时甚至很痛苦，需要采取果断行动。别无他法。”他周六在X节目中说道。

图斯克在电视讲话中表示，“叫喊、谎言和争吵不能成为波兰的法律来源，也永远不会成为法律来源。”

他坚称，法庭“将按其应有的方式运作，并且独立于我之外，完全符合宪法规定。”

分析人士称，议会批准了图斯克的亲密盟友别列克的提名，危机因此加深。

巴黎高等商学院法学教授阿尔贝托·阿莱马诺写道，这“与政府承诺使该法庭去政治化相矛盾”。

Wojtek Radwanski/法新社/盖蒂图片社

“周五，一名法官下令暂停法庭庭长和副庭长的职务，同时警方在法庭大楼外维持秩序，这本身并不是一场‘政变’：其公开目的是恢复法庭的合法运作。但是，恢复法治本身也必须依法进行，”Allemano 在 X 上写道。

与此同时，他还补充道：“如果波兰政府试图修复被法律与公正党（PiS）掌控的机构，那么其反对派则试图通过非法手段保留一些控制权。”

美国驻波兰大使汤姆·罗斯周五晚警告说：“数千人聚集在法庭外，使本已危险的局势更加危险。波兰最不需要的就是冲突升级，演变成更糟糕的局面。”

“我希望所有相关人员——政府官员、执法人员和示威者——都能冷静下来，不要采取任何可能引发暴力或进一步升级的行动，”罗斯在X上说道。

但目前尚不清楚图斯克和纳沃茨基之间的僵局该如何解决。在波兰面临日益严峻的安全威胁之际——乌克兰边境战火纷飞，以及图斯克指责俄罗斯策划的波兰境内破坏袭击——两人似乎都不愿妥协。

图斯克周六表示，他的反对者“在世界各地的亲俄势力中找到支持绝非偶然”。

明年将举行新的选举，波兰的宪法秩序及其政治方向（是走向还是远离与欧洲更深层次的融合）将成为重要的议题。