San Francisco Frontiers - Polish president holds crisis talks after court standoff

Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, where riot police had surrounded the court on Friday following the suspension of its president Bogdan Swieczkowski.

The nationalist president said the talks were necessary because of "the threat to internal security", in a statement read on his behalf outside the court the next morning.

Representatives of nationalist, far-right and some ruling coalition parties attended at the presidential palace, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition party stayed away, according to Polish media.

The Left, a coalition member, said it had not been invited and would not have attended because it considered Nawrocki a party to the dispute.

No breakthrough had emerged by Saturday afternoon.

Followers of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) gathered outside the court on Saturday, extending protests that have been running for weeks in support of its judges.

"This is Donald Tusk destroying democracy... it's a tragedy," protester Iwona Dudek, 62, who had travelled from a German border town with her husband, told AFP.

But she argued the crisis had created one unexpected outcome: "Donald Tusk has done the impossible. He has united the entire right wing."

The previous day, dozens of police intervened at the court as PiS supporters protested what they called an attempt by Tusk's government to seize control of the institution.

The court's official X account described the events as a "coup d'etat" and some demonstrators chanted "Tusk traitor" and tried to push through security barricades. Police said three people were arrested.

Tusk's government has been trying for weeks to force out the court's judges, who were appointed by the previous PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023.

The court frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law and the European Union accused Poland's highest court of being too close to the nationalist political power of the time.

- Mid-flight chaos -

Tusk, a strongly pro-EU figure, vowed to end the dispute with Brussels after winning the election in 2023. But the country's president, a right-wing independent, has blocked his nominations to the court.

PiS supporters have been gathering outside the court for weeks in support of the tribunal's judges.

Swieczkowski's suspension was announced by another judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who said the move was needed to restore the rule of law.

Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek, who is also the attorney general, told journalists he had requested the lifting of the legal immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy Bartlomiej Sochanski.

Tusk justified the action on X, saying: "Restoring the rule of law is our duty."

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

US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, warned all sides: "Don't take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation."

"The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse," he said on X.

Adding to the confusion, the court's X account insisted Swieczkowski remained in office.

Korwin-Piotrowska could not become interim chief as she had not been sworn in by the president, it added.

J.Peterson--SFF