Polish president returns to Warsaw after break-in attempt at top court
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Dakaractu
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has cut short his official trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, as police blocked access to the Constitutional Tribunal and arrested three people after an attempted break-in. The standoff pits Donald Tusk’s government against judges appointed under the previous administration, according to AFP.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki interrupted his official visit to Senegal on Friday to return urgently to Warsaw, after police were deployed inside the Constitutional Tribunal, according to AFP. Dozens of riot police blocked supporters of the national-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS) from entering the court grounds, where they had gathered. Three people were arrested after trying to enter the premises, police said.
Demonstrators have been supporting for several weeks judges appointed by the nationalist right when it was in power. The centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants them to leave, while Karol Nawrocki defends them. Nominations proposed by the government and the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, have not been approved by the head of state, according to AFP.
Donald Tusk said on social media platform X that restoring the rule of law was a duty. He accused PiS of leading the country into lawlessness and said the process would be difficult but necessary. The Constitutional Tribunal is at the centre of a longstanding dispute with the European Union, which considers it too dependent on political power.
