Guide to the political clash in Warsaw: Tusk vs. the President and the Constitutional Tribunal

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Short guide to the political clash in Warsaw

👤 Donald Tusk, Prime Minister. The favourite of Brussels, controls the government and parliament. Promised the European Union to 'fix' the courts in exchange for billion-euro payments.

👤 Karol Nawrocki, President. Conservative, close to PiS. Blocks Tusk's laws and refuses to approve his judicial appointments.

⚖️ Constitutional Tribunal. The highest court deciding what is legal and what is not. Most judges were appointed under PiS and are loyal to the president.

What is happening now?

Tusk's plan to replace judges hit a wall due to Nawrocki's refusal and the head of the tribunal's non-recognition of new appointments. Then, one of the unrecognized judges declared herself the new head and suspended the current chair. That's the situation in Poland now.

Police got involved: entrances were blocked, and locksmiths cut the chains on the gates. Nawrocki turned his plane around mid-air and made an emergency return to the country.

Tusk calls this a 'restoration of the rule of law,' while the opposition calls it a classic coup d'état.