On Friday evening, October 30, a group of individuals, accompanied by security forces, broke into the Constitutional Court building. Among them were also candidates for the office of judge of the Constitutional Court, selected by the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish Parliament), who had not taken the oath of office before the President of the Republic of Poland. The Constitutional Court was forcibly occupied, and Anna Korwin-Piotrowska usurped its presidency. Neither the President of the Constitutional Court, Bogdan Święczkowski, nor the Vice-President, Bartłomiej Sochański, were authorized to access the seat of the Constitutional Court.

This is another stage in Tusk’s ongoing coup d’état, which began immediately after the formation of the government on December 13 with the occupation of public television and all government media. Even then, the timing chosen was not accidental: the eve of Christmas, when people are busy with holiday preparations, traveling, and could be distracted. But for Tusk, having the media at his service has been of primary importance to manipulate public opinion, attack the opposition, justify the violation of the Constitution and the law, and cover up continuous scandals involving politicians in power and the disastrous public debt situation.

After the media came the turn of the judiciary and state-owned enterprises. Tusk always repeated that he must have “his judges” everywhere, including in the Constitutional Court, which has been in his sights for years. He suspended the payment of funds for the functioning of the Constitutional Court and the National Council of the Judiciary, and he did not recognize the rulings of the Constitutional Court—meaning he refused to publish them in the Official Gazette. Furthermore, its members who gradually retired were not replaced until the Court was short six members. Only then did the government and the Sejm (the lower house of Parliament), violating their own regulations and ignoring the President’s reservations, prepare their own candidates to take control of the Court. Unfortunately, the government chose people without regard for the requirements demanded for such an office: professional competence rather than political commitment. For this reason, only two of them took the oath before President Karol Nawrocki. The President did not invite the remaining four to take the oath, pointing out errors during their selection.

However, the situation worsened when Parliament elected another candidate, Tusk’s close collaborator and government minister, Zbigniew Berek. Berek should not even have been considered as a candidate, given his political commitment and the fact that he had not provided proof of having worked as a legal advisor for at least 10 years. On October 14, in the Sejm, in the presence of, among others, the Marshal of the Sejm, the communist Włodzimierz Czarzasty, and the Marshal of the Senate, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Maciej Berek took the oath pronouncing the phrase “before the President” even though President Karol Nawrocki was not present. Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the Presidential Chancellery, called the event a “tragicomedy,” adding that Berek “has become the symbol of political action where politics should not exist.”

When Berek and the other judges, elected by the Sejm but who had not sworn before the President, went to the Court’s palace, they found a group of protesters who greeted them with shouts of: “Usurpers!”, “Coup d’état!”. The President of the Constitutional Court, Bogdan Święczkowski, who spoke with Berek at the Court, later informed the protesters and journalists that Maciej Berek had not been allowed to preside until he received a response from President Nawrocki confirming that the oath had been “taken in his presence.”

And then Tusk’s threats against Nawrocki began. Tusk declared that “by refusing to ‘receive’ the oath, President Karol Nawrocki is evading the duties imposed upon him by the Constitution.” He also announced that the government would restore legal order “using all means available to the State.”

This time, to carry out another action bearing the hallmarks of a coup d’état, Tusk chose the eve of other major holidays: All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Moreover, he waited for President Karol Nawrocki to leave the country heading to an important meeting in Africa before ordering the police occupation. Nawrocki was halfway to Senegal when he suddenly turned his plane around and rushed back to Poland to deal with the ongoing crisis. “At a time like this, the President must be in Poland. I am canceling my flight to Senegal. I am turning back,” wrote Karol Nawrocki.

For days, anticipating a possible occupation of the Constitutional Court’s headquarters, a crowd of Poles had been demonstrating peacefully in front of the Court. There were many people there also on Friday evening when the police cordoned off the building and brought in the cars carrying Tusk’s chosen judges through the side entrance adjacent to the Prime Minister’s residence. The police justified their intervention by citing “information provided by a judge of the Court, indicating potential threats to the life or safety of judges and staff.” The website of the Constitutional Court was illegally hacked by the individuals who stormed the Court, and around 18:00 a communication appeared on it regarding the suspension from office of the President of the Constitutional Court, Bogdan Święczkowski, and the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court, Bartłomiej Sochański. The person claiming authority over the Constitutional Court was Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, who had not taken the oath before the President. And now she is usurping the power to control the Constitutional Court. The Polish Constitution does not grant the Prime Minister or his government the power to dismiss the leadership of the Constitutional Court. Article 194 establishes the composition of the Court and the procedure for appointing its president. Article 195 guarantees the independence of its judges. The announcement of a suspension is based on Article 130 of the law regulating ordinary courts, not the Constitutional Court. Invoking this article to suspend the leadership of the Constitutional Court is a distortion of the law that reveals a contempt for constitutional principles.

Opposition politicians also arrived in front of the Court, including Jarosław Kaczyński, who exclaimed: “Tusk’s policemen are forcibly entering the Constitutional Court. This is the first case of its kind in the world.” “From today,” he added, “Poland is becoming a police state, and from there the road leads straight to authoritarianism and then to totalitarianism.” Kaczyński also called for protests against the authorities’ actions: “We Poles do not let ourselves be intimidated! The civic protest, which is perfectly legal, must continue! The Court is the guarantor of our freedom and sovereignty! Tusk’s violation of the law knows no bounds!”

The President managed to enter the Court around one in the morning, although with difficulty in overcoming the police cordon and the usurping judges who were preventing his entry, alongside a physical attack by Korwin-Piotrowska on the President. Pro-government media spread a false version, refuted by videos, claiming that it was the President who had physically stormed the Court.

“You are not judges of the Constitutional Court,” emphasized President Karol Nawrocki, addressing those who had been selected by the Sejm as candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court and who had not taken the oath before the President. The head of the Presidential Chancellery, Zbigniew Bogucki, reminded Anna Korwin-Piotrowska: “You are orchestrating a coup d’état, I don’t know if you are aware of it.”

Last evening, the President’s spokesperson published a photo of the President and his collaborators on X, which also featured the First President of the Supreme Court and the Vice-President of the Court, Judge Bartłomiej Sochański. The President left the building during the night and issued a statement: “I facilitated the entry of the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court, Judge Bartłomiej Sochański, into the headquarters of the Constitutional Court,” announced Karol Nawrocki.

As the President emphasized, a violation of the constitutional order and a forced occupation of a constitutional body had taken place. He demanded the restoration of legal order and the clearing of the Court premises by government forces.

“Due to the threat to the internal security of the Republic of Poland, I am convening urgent consultations today with representatives of parliamentary forces to stabilize the political situation and restore constitutional order,” Nawrocki declared in a statement.

Already two years ago, the President of the Constitutional Court filed a notification with the prosecutor’s office, arguing that the government—under the direction of Prime Minister Donald Tusk—had committed the crime of a coup d’état. Unfortunately, the process of authoritarian consolidation in Poland continues. The assault on the Constitutional Court and the attacks on the President represent the final phases of a complete, undemocratic seizure of power. Although Tusk has already announced his next goal: the ousting of the President of the National Bank of Poland. He wants to control Poland’s treasury as well.

Instead, after visiting the Constitutional Court, the President convened consultations with political forces: “Due to the threat to the internal security of the Republic of Poland, I am calling for urgent consultations today, with the participation of representatives of parliamentary forces, in order to stabilize the political situation and restore constitutional order,” reads the statement. Unfortunately, Tusk refused to send anyone to the meeting with Nawrocki; instead, he appeared on television with a message rejecting any compromise: “The democratic state must be strong and capable of enforcing justice.” The concentration of power in his hands has already exceeded any alarm level, and the “message” showed that he has no intention of turning back. Furthermore, movements of police forces from various parts of the country toward the capital are being reported. Does Tusk want bloodshed to attain special powers? Many in Poland are asking themselves this.

Once again in its history, Poland is fighting against totalitarianism, this time a totalitarianism supported by the European Union.

The photo of the female judge usurping the Constitutional Court and laying hands on the President is the symbol of Tusk’s undemocratic Poland.

The article was published in Italian on La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana: https://lanuovabq.it/it/polonia-il-golpe-europeista-arriva-alla-corte-costituzionale