Polish president cuts short Senegal trip amid escalating court crisis

Floyd Brenz., Philippine Canadian Inquirer
October 31, 2026

Photo Courtesy: AFP

Polish President Karol Nawrocki abruptly cut short his trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw after a dispute over the leadership of the country’s Constitutional Tribunal triggered protests and a heavy police presence outside the court.

Nawrocki announced his decision while his plane was already en route to Senegal, saying Poland needed its president at home during the unfolding situation.

The crisis erupted after senior judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Constitutional Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and assumed leadership of the court. The move intensified an ongoing political dispute between Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European government and the opposition-aligned president.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the tribunal in Warsaw on Friday, October 30, opposing Święczkowski’s suspension. Police were deployed around the premises after tensions escalated, with officers reporting that some demonstrators threw objects at them.

The disagreement reflects a wider struggle over judicial appointments and the independence of Poland’s courts. Tusk’s government has pledged to restore judicial independence following years of controversy surrounding reforms introduced under the former Law and Justice government, which governed from 2015 to 2023.

Nawrocki, who is aligned with the Law and Justice party, has opposed several of the current government’s judicial appointments, including refusing to swear in three judges selected by parliament.

Tusk defended his administration’s efforts, saying restoring the rule of law was a government obligation that required decisive action. Opposition figures, meanwhile, accused the government of using state institutions to take control of the Constitutional Tribunal.

The competing claims have further deepened political divisions in Poland, leaving the country’s highest judicial institution at the center of a growing constitutional dispute.