EU Commission backs Tusk on Polish Constitutional Court crisis as President Nawrocki pushes judge aside

The European Commission entered Poland's deepening institutional crisis on Saturday, with Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath publicly siding with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government in its dispute with President Karol Nawrocki over appointments to the Constitutional Court.

McGrath, citing conclusions of a Council of Europe expert commission, stated that the Sejm — Poland's lower house of parliament — holds the authority to appoint new constitutional judges, implicitly denying Nawrocki the power to block the process. He said Polish state organs must ensure the court can function in line with the Polish constitution and European Court of Justice case law, adding that citizens deserve full respect for the rule of law.

Four former presidents of the Polish Constitutional Court published a joint statement calling Nawrocki's conduct an "unprecedented violation of the court's autonomy" that does not contribute to resolving the conflict.

The crisis escalated on Friday. A notice posted on the court's website declared that incumbent President Bogdan Swieczkowski and his deputy had been suspended and that Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska would serve as acting head. Supporters of the Law and Justice (PiS) party and other right-wing groups staged protests outside the building.

In the night between Friday and Saturday, Nawrocki attempted to enter the court building and, in doing so, pushed a judge.

Tusk responded in a televised address, saying "the rule of law differs from the law of the jungle" in that muscles and impudence do not decide who is right. He accused PiS of attacking democracy and the rule of law, stating that for years organisations and politicians in Poland have sought to destroy democracy and the rule of law.

Tusk's coalition had voted eight new constitutional judges through parliament. Nawrocki refused to swear in five of them; those five subsequently took their oath before Sejm Speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty. The European Court of Justice had previously found that the Constitutional Court could not be considered independent under the Law and Justice administration, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023.