Poland's Tribunal Fight Sends Three Envoys Out

Three Polish ambassadors have resigned amid a fight over who controls the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw, turning a crisis inside the state’s highest court into a rupture among the country’s political appointees. Krzysztof Szczerski, Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations, left on Monday; Jakub Kumoch, ambassador to China, quit on Friday, and Paweł Soloch, envoy to Romania, resigned on Saturday.

The dispute is over the court’s leadership and appointments. Outside the tribunal, riot police appeared as judges appointed by opposing political camps contested who could exercise authority inside it. The people making the decisions are politicians, judges and ambassadors; the institutional machinery they’re fighting over belongs to the state.

Ambassadors caught in the power struggle

Foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór said Szczerski had “submitted a request to shorten his diplomatic mission at the UN.” Szczerski, who had served as ambassador since 2021, gave no public reason for leaving. All three departing ambassadors had previously served as aides or advisers to former President Andrzej Duda, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Kumoch and Soloch said they resigned after Friday’s move to suspend Constitutional Tribunal chief justice Bogdan Święczkowski, appointed under PiS. Soloch said the “attempt to unlawfully take over the Constitutional Tribunal” left him with “no possibility of continuing to serve as ambassador.” Kumoch called his departure a “matter of conscience,” adding: “there are certain things I cannot explain abroad without losing face, and I have no intention of speaking ill of Poland.”

The three envoys’ careers were closely tied to Duda’s political orbit. Szczerski served as a member of the European Parliament for PiS before joining Duda’s chancellery in 2015, later heading his cabinet and International Policy Bureau. Kumoch served on Duda’s National Development Council and was ambassador to Switzerland, Turkey and then China. Soloch headed Duda’s National Security Bureau from 2015 to 2022.

Foreign minister Radosław Sikorski suggested the ambassadors quit at the urging of current president Karol Nawrocki, also aligned with PiS. Sikorski contrasted them with Polish ambassadors who resigned in 1981 over the imposition of martial law despite “risking vengeance from the communist regime.” The newly resigned trio, he said, “will surely be handsomely rewarded for their heroic deeds.”

Judges, police and rival claims

On Friday evening, eight judges appointed by parliament to the tribunal this year entered the court and declared Święczkowski suspended for failing to fulfil his duties. Five of the eight have not been sworn in by Nawrocki. Święczkowski called their actions unlawful and an attempted “coup d’état”; six other justices appointed while PiS was in government backed him. Riot police were seen preventing Święczkowski from entering the court.

Nawrocki supported Święczkowski and entered the court in the early hours of Saturday. He clashed physically and verbally with Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, the self-proclaimed acting head of the court. A general assembly called by Korwin-Piotrowska for Tuesday may not reach the quorum of 10 judges normally required to be valid. The eight judges appointed by the ruling coalition were expected to attend; those appointed under the PiS government appeared likely not to.

The crisis dates to 2015, when Duda and the PiS government unlawfully rejected three judges appointed by the previous parliament and replaced them with three of their own. The current broad coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk does not recognise the tribunal because of those judges and has ignored its rulings since replacing PiS in power in December 2023. This year, Tusk’s coalition began appointing judges to fill vacancies; Nawrocki and Święczkowski have refused to accept the appointments.

Brussels watches; the standoff remains

Tusk said tough action was needed to restore the tribunal’s legitimacy. In a national address on Saturday, he said there could be “no compromise” over the rule of law and accused Nawrocki of “intimidating judges.” On Monday, he called on Nawrocki to confirm judges elected by parliament. “Resolving the conflict is simple and can be achieved without amending the constitution,” Tusk wrote on social media, arguing that the president should recognise judges lawfully elected by the Sejm and allow them to take up their duties. He accused Nawrocki of “opting for a forceful confrontation, which could cost Poland dearly.”

Conservative demonstrators and members of the right-wing and far-right opposition called the government’s actions a “coup d'etat.” The pro-European ruling coalition said they were necessary to preserve the rule of law. Nawrocki cut short a trip from Senegal to return to Warsaw; talks with political leaders on Saturday produced no major results.

The European Commission said it was closely monitoring the situation. A spokesperson said Poland’s parliament had the right to appoint judges to the constitutional court, and that Polish authorities must ensure the tribunal functions under the Polish constitution and relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Commission’s words set out the institutional rules. On the ground, riot police, rival judges and a president entering the court showed how far the state’s competing authorities are prepared to press their claims.