Polish president turns plane around after 'coup' at nation’s top court

While en route to Senegal, Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around and returned home after police entered Poland's top court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and the tribunal’s president was suspended.

"At such a moment, the President must be in Poland," Nawrocki posted on X. "I'm interrupting my flight to Senegal. I'm returning."

Police say they secured the Tribunal after dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate against what they called the wrongful suspension of the top court’s president by the current pro-European government. 

Police said there were also dangerous objects thrown at officers outside the building.

Some protesters outside the court were seen praying, while others held posters reading "Tusk — a symbol of anti-Polish sentiment," "Down with the commies and Tusk’s regime," and "Stop destroying the state."

Poland’s top judicial bodies, including the Constitutional Tribunal, have been a major bone of contention between the current pro-European government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and the main opposition party, national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which ruled the country from 2015 to 2023. 

Critics accuse the PiS of imposing political control over key judicial institutions, with some reforms having led the EU to impose fines on Poland.

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Nawrocki, an ally of the PiS ​party, refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament earlier this year. 

Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski, ⁠who was appointed by the PiS government after also serving as a deputy justice minister, declined to allow judges elected by the current parliamentary majority to assume their duties. According to the tribunal’s website, Święczkowski was suspended Friday.

"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. He posted to X, "After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way." 

Since taking power, Tusk’s pro-European government’s efforts have been vetoed by two successive presidents aligned with PiS, including Nawrocki.

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Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a former PiS member whose Rozwój Plus coalition is positioning itself as an alternative to Tusk's government ahead of next November’s parliamentary elections, also took to X to denounce "the forceful takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal."

"Justice cannot be achieved through violence," Morawiecki said, adding that "Tusk will stop at nothing to cling to power… We do not consent to Belarusian methods in Poland!" 

"It’s true: a coup d’état is underway," former PiS Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro wrote on X. "If someone were to forcibly break into the Prime Minister’s Office and take it over, we would all know what to call it… This is a blatant, criminal attack on the constitutional order… That is why I call for resistance that will be loud, firm, solidary and fearless."

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Tom Rose posted a statement on social media that read in part: "The events unfolding tonight at Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal are very serious indeed. We appear to be witnessing an unprecedented confrontation over the government’s use of state power and the independence and authority of a constitutional institution. Both sides offer sharply different accounts of what happened and why. Whatever the facts ultimately establish, 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. America is on Poland’s side. It is not our place to judge or interfere in its internal affairs. Our concern is for the stability, security, and democratic future of a country we are proud to call our friend and ally."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.