Outside the Constitutional Court in Warsaw's government district, just under a hundred protesters have gathered to demonstrate against Prime Minister Donald Tusk. They are offered coffee and sandwiches and can buy T-shirts and images of saints at stalls next to a stage, where government-critical TV star Michal Jelonek is holding a box.
“Tusk and his regime are acting against the law for political reasons,” Jelonek tells TT as he poses for photos with fans.
The average age is high, and few speak English. This is not the economically successful Poland that is protesting.
Two of the youngest people on site are Mateusz and Sebastian, Tusk critics in their early 30s.
“We must follow the law. He should resign,” says Mateusz.
Concrete in the system
The critics accuse the government of illegally removing judges who were critical of the previous government and replacing them with new ones.
The government disagrees. It also believes that President Karol Nawrocki and the former ruling party PiS are fueling the conflict by openly supporting the protesters, alongside the rapidly growing far-right Confederation and Crown parties.
“The authoritarian parties have filled the system with concrete. We have been trying to mediate with the president for a long time, but it takes two to tango,” Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said at a press conference with visiting EU correspondents.
Long conflict
The court battle has been going on for more than ten years and is part of a long and deep conflict between Poland's dominant right-wing parties. On one side is Tusk, from the same conservative party family as, for example, Sweden's M and KD, but also supported by the centre and left. On the other are Nawrocki and the Eurosceptic, nationalist PiS.
Tusk has had a narrow majority in parliament since the 2023 election. The government is still having difficulty getting its policies through because the president frequently uses his veto power and refuses to sign everything from ambassadorial appointments to amended abortion laws.
Opinion is divided, and there is strong evidence that PiS will regain power after the election in the autumn of 2027, with support from a pro-Russian, openly anti-Semitic far-right.
Concerns ahead of National Day
The renewed fighting has raised concerns ahead of Poland's National Day on Wednesday, November 11, when nationalists and far-right groups traditionally gather to demonstrate.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Traskowski is prepared for a fight but hopes for the opposite.
“The president has said that he will march with them [the nationalists], and I hope that means it will be peaceful. But we will be tough if the law is broken,” Traskowski promises.
The protesters at the courthouse are bracing for a large turnout on Wednesday.
“The government has really made sure to motivate the people,” says Mateusz.
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