The European Commission has called on President Karol Nawrocki to approve new judges of the Constitutional Tribunal, putting pressure on him in the process, the Belga news agency assessed on Sunday.
Belga was commenting on a statement by a Commission spokeswoman that the Polish authorities must ensure the Tribunal operates in accordance with the Polish Constitution and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
In the Belgian news agency’s assessment, “the European Commission has thus sided with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the dispute over the Tribunal with the conservative and nationalist opposition.”
Belga cited a comment from the Commission spokeswoman, who said on Saturday that “it is up to the Polish authorities to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal can function in accordance with the Polish Constitution, with due regard for the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
The agency also wrote that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has been at the center of a crisis for years.
Commission spokeswoman Louise Bogey told PAP on Saturday evening that the Commission is closely following the latest developments concerning Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal.
“The appointment of eight new members of the Constitutional Tribunal falls within the constitutional powers of the Sejm [Poland’s lower house of parliament], as confirmed by the Venice Commission (an advisory body of the Council of Europe – PAP) in its opinion of Oct. 13, 2026,” she said in a statement provided to PAP.
“Moreover, on May 5, 2026, the European Court of Human Rights issued interim measures obliging the relevant Polish authorities to refrain from obstructing the judges – appointed by the Sejm in March 2026 – in taking office and performing their judicial duties,” she added.
The crisis at the Tribunal erupted after the Tribunal’s website announced on Friday a break in the official duties of its president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and its vice president, Bartłomiej Sochański. Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, as the judge with the longest judicial service, was announced as the person heading the Tribunal.
In response to these events, the president cut short a flight to Senegal and arrived at the Tribunal’s headquarters overnight from Friday to Saturday. Recordings were published in the media showing him entering the building, as well as the dispute that broke out between Nawrocki’s representatives and Tribunal judges elected by the current Sejm.
After leaving the Tribunal’s headquarters, Nawrocki announced urgent consultations involving parliamentary forces, arguing that the constitutional order had been violated. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, for his part, declared that “restoring the rule of law is our duty.”
In connection with the situation at the Constitutional Tribunal, President Karol Nawrocki held a series of meetings with the leaders of parliamentary groups on Saturday. Among other things, he was offered a reset of the Tribunal, and the idea of forming a technical government was also presented. In the evening, Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivered an address in which he ruled out a compromise on the Constitutional Tribunal.
From Brussels, Łukasz Osiński (PAP)
