What few people mention: the institutional crisis in Poland and the dismal role of Donald Tusk

In recent days, very serious events have taken place in Poland—events that are both alarming and deeply saddening for the country.

The president of the Polish Constitutional Court accuses Donald Tusk of staging a 'coup'
Backed by Von der Leyen, Tusk imitates Pedro Sanchez and assaults the Judiciary in Poland

An Assault on the Constitutional Tribunal Using the Police

On October 30, the Polish Police surrounded the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) at the request of the Prosecutor General, Waldemar Żurek—who also serves as the Minister of Justice in Donald Tusk’s center-left government (in Poland, both positions are held simultaneously). The police intervention had been prompted by Anna Korwin-Piotrowska. On Friday afternoon, Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal reported on its Twitter account "an illegal takeover of the Constitutional Tribunal’s website." The statement noted that Bogdan Święczkowski remained the president of the body. Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska declared herself the new president in an openly irregular manner.

The President of the Republic aborted a trip to Senegal while in mid-flight

The situation became highly tense, and the President of the Republic, the conservative Karol Nawrocki (of the Law and Justice party, PiS), aborted a trip to Senegal while in mid-flight, returning to Warsaw immediately. In the early hours of October 31, Nawrocki issued a statement declaring:

"Tonight, a violation of the constitutional order of the Republic of Poland has occurred, along with the forcible seizure of a constitutional state body. I have consulted with the First President of the Supreme Court, Zbigniew Kapiński, who also does not recognize the actions taken by individuals assuming power within the Constitutional Tribunal as lawful.

I call for the restoration of the legal order and for the security forces deployed to the site by the government to vacate the Tribunal’s premises."

High-ranking judicial officials support the President of the Republic

This Tuesday, Nawrocki stated:

"The government chose the eve of All Saints' Day—a date of great significance to the Polish people—to install individuals who call themselves judges into the Constitutional Tribunal, despite their lack of any legal legitimacy to hold such a position. I made this clear to these individuals on Friday night. Under police escort, they are usurping the authority to suspend judges and are assuming their duties—all without any legal basis whatsoever.

I want to be very clear: this position is supported by the First President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, and the President of the Supreme Bar Council. Furthermore, numerous constitutional law experts have firmly pointed out that these actions lack any legal foundation."

All of this was carried out by instrumentalizing officers from the police force and the State Protection Service. I have just met with representatives of police unions; there is no doubt that the officers themselves are fully aware that they were used to carry out a political agenda. It is deeply concerning."

Three Polish ambassadors resign over government actions

The actions taken by Donald Tusk’s government in attempting to seize control of the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) by force have had severe consequences. In addition to fracturing social cohesion in Poland, three of the country’s ambassadors—including its representative to the UN—have resigned. All three cited their opposition to the government’s actions this past Friday as the reason for their departure.

Two of Tusk’s governing partners distance themselves from his stance

On Saturday morning, Szymon Hołownia, of the centrist party Polska 2050 (a partner in Donald Tusk’s government), criticized the spectacle of sending the police to take over the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), lamenting the damage to Poland’s image and calling on the president and the prime minister to reach an agreement.

On Saturday afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), distanced himself from Tusk’s position—without explicitly naming him— and proposed "a constitutional reset that would lead to the rebuilding of trust in the Constitutional Tribunal, guarantee the independence of its judges, put an end to the questioning of the Tribunal’s rulings, and resolve the ongoing conflict. Under the current circumstances, this is the only opportunity to gradually restore normalcy regarding the Constitutional Tribunal."

A crisis dating back to Tusk’s assault on the Constitutional Tribunal in 2015

The serious institutional crisis currently unfolding in Poland has its roots in events that took place eleven years ago. In June 2015, facing a foreseeable defeat in the October elections of that year, Civic Platform (PO)—Tusk’s party—passed a law to shorten the terms of five members of the Constitutional Tribunal (TK) by two months, ensuring that their replacement would not depend on a Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) controlled by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

This was an assault on the rule of law that the European Union failed to denounce, largely because Tusk was serving as President of the European Council at the time, and the then-President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, was a member of the European People’s Party (EPP)—the same political family to which Tusk’s PO belongs. The EU only reacted when the new, PiS-dominated parliament sought to rectify the illegality committed by the PO in 2015; it did so by launching an intense campaign of harassment against Poland during the tenure of Ursula von der Leyen, who is also a member of the EPP.

Tusk’s Attacks on the Rule of Law and Von der Leyen’s Complicity

Von der Leyen’s accusations against the former PiS government gave way to silence once the PO returned to power, with Tusk as prime minister. Tusk has been launching attacks on the rule of law—violating the parliamentary immunity of opposition lawmakers, assaulting the judiciary, and committing serious violations of the constitutional order. Yet, because the current Polish government shares her political alignment, Ursula von der Leyen now remains silent—the same stance she has taken regarding the attacks on the rule of law by Pedro Sánchez’s leftist government in Spain (Von der Leyen leads a commission in which the Socialists are her allies). The great favor Tusk has done for Putin by dividing and weakening Poland

The result, as things stand, is a politically and socially fractured Poland—at a moment in its history when its government, rather than sowing division, should be striving to foster unity among the Polish people, which is sorely needed in the face of the threat posed by Russian expansionism. By weakening Poland through his actions—driven by a personal desire to seize control of all the levers of the state—Tusk has done Putin a great favor. Naturally, few outside of Poland report on this, as many media outlets follow editorial lines that overlook such facts, favoring instead a narrative that aligns with the interests of the European Commission and the political parties that support it (the EPP and the socialists).

---

Photo: Leszek Szymanski / PAP. El primer ministro de Polonia, Donald Tusk.