Poland: Constitutional Crisis or Coup?

What is currently happening in Poland reflects a struggle over the direction of the European Union – a struggle between sovereignists and globalists. The former cherish the nation state as the highest decision-making body, whilst the latter see greater merit in a federalist structure. It is a fundamental difference in vision of society: between a society built from the bottom up and one governed from the top down.

The zloty, gold and the Constitution

In Poland, the Prime Minister and the President are at loggerheads. The Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, as a former President of the European Council, is an advocate of a federal European Union. Officially, the introduction of the euro is not on the agenda: his Finance Minister, Andrzej Domański, stated¹ earlier this year that there are increasingly more arguments in favour of retaining the zloty. Nevertheless, sovereigntists fear that a pro-European government will change course sooner or later. Meanwhile, Poland is building up a substantial gold reserve², with a target of 700 tonnes, which would place the country among the world’s top ten. Upon joining the eurozone, monetary policy would shift to the ECB in Frankfurt and part of those reserves would come under European management.

Moreover, having its own currency is enshrined in the Polish Constitution, which grants the Polish central bank the exclusive right to issue currency. Adopting the euro would therefore require a constitutional amendment, and this would need the approval of a two-thirds majority in the Sejm – a majority that Tusk’s coalition does not have. The Constitutional Tribunal does not amend the Constitution itself, but it does scrutinise everything the government does. Whoever controls the Tribunal therefore helps determine how far Poland can align itself with Brussels.

That is what the current crisis is all about. On 30 October, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska – one of the judges selected by the governing coalition whom President Nawrocki refused to swear in – suspended, with Tusk’s support, the President and Vice-President of the Constitutional Tribunal, Bogdan Święczkowski and Bartłomiej Sochański.³ Both had been appointed under the previous nationalist PiS government (Law and Justice party). A constitutional crisis⁴, which can be regarded as a full-blown coup d’état.

President cuts short state visit

Tusk, however, found himself pitted against the country’s nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, who had been elected with the support of PiS. As soon as he was informed of Tusk’s coup, Nawrocki rushed back from a trip to Senegal, where he had been due to pay a state visit. Upon arrival, he went straight to the building where the Constitutional Court sits. He then delivered a nationally broadcast speech⁵, in which he accused his prime minister of acting unlawfully, called for the suspension of the judges to be revoked and for order to be restored.

So far, Tusk has not complied with this. According to reports on social media, the president is said to have set 11 November as the deadline: Polish Independence Day, a symbolic date for a decision concerning Poland’s sovereignty. Tusk himself stated⁶ on 5 November that, as far as he is concerned, the legal issue has been resolved.

The President has no formal authority to force Tusk to reverse the suspension of the President and Vice-President of the Constitutional Tribunal. However, he does have a powerful means of exerting pressure: his right of veto. Nawrocki has been using this on an unprecedented scale since taking office in 2025 and has already blocked⁷ dozens of bills from the Tusk government, which does not have the three-fifths majority required to override a veto. He is also holding up the appointments of judges and ambassadors. He can step up this blockade as long as the suspension remains in place.

‼️TO PREZYDENT MA RACJĘ‼️

„Sejm – wbrew przepisom Konstytucji RP
– bardzo długo zwlekał z zapełnieniem luk kadrowych powstałych w Trybunale, czekając, aż nagromadzą się wakaty.”

– ma rację prof. Ryszard Piotrowski mówiąc w @Najwazniejsze oraz konkluduje że:

„Prezydent nie…

— Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (@JSaryuszWolski) November 8, 2026

Who has the final say?

A second point of contention between Nawrocki and Tusk is the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Tribunal. The Tribunal’s role is to review legislation against the Constitution, including international legislation, such as that of the European Union. On several occasions, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal has exercised this power. The best-known example is the ruling of October 2021, in which the Tribunal held that parts of the EU Treaties are contrary to the Polish Constitution and that Polish law takes precedence in such cases. Brussels reacted strongly: the European Commission withheld billions in COVID-19 recovery funds from Poland, partly due to the Polish judicial reforms. In the case of the Turów lignite mine, on the border with the Czech Republic, Poland also refused to comply with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which had ordered the mining operations to be halted. This resulted in the country being fined half a million euros per day.

The Court in Luxembourg takes the view that EU law takes precedence over national law. This was never negotiated by the Member States and laid down in the treaties, but is the result of two judgments by the European Court itself. The Van Gend en Loos judgement, which gave EU legislation direct effect. Citizens can invoke it directly. And the Costa/ENEL judgement, which established that EU legislation always takes precedence over national law.

However, a number of Member States have never recognised this and continue to adhere to their own constitutions, which stipulate that their own national law takes precedence. This is the case in Poland, but also, for example, in Hungary and Germany. In Germany, there is the Bundesverfassungsgericht in Karlsruhe. This German Constitutional Court intervened in relation to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) large-scale bond-purchase programmes (quantitative easing/PSPP). Karlsruhe ruled that the European Court’s judgement was “incomprehensible” and that Luxembourg had overstepped its authority (acted ultra vires) by failing to scrutinise the ECB strictly enough with regard to the principle of proportionality.

Poland: "The conflict between EU rules and governments of nations recalls disputes between altar and throne."

Also other national top courts have been challenging the supremacy of EU law: https://t.co/Uf7poojy6n https://t.co/wH74xuFJMw

— Pieter Cleppe (@pietercleppe) November 3, 2026

Patriotic parties on the rise

The power struggle between Tusk and Nawrocki in Poland has wider implications. In several Member States, ‘more or less EU’ is also a point of contention⁸. The ever-increasing loss of national sovereignty is a thorn in the side of patriotic parties across the EU. In France, this is evident in Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), and in Germany in Alice Weidel’s AfD. But in all Member States, we are seeing a strong rise in support for patriotic parties. They could well mark a turning point for the European Union. Certainly if, in line with the polls, they perform well in the upcoming elections in Poland, France, Italy, Spain and a number of smaller Member States.

The Visegrád countries are also vocal on the issue of sovereignty. Apart from Poland itself, these are Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They still remember the Soviet era and do not want to lose their sovereignty again. They met ⁹ shortly after the coup in Poland. Although they did not express explicit support for Nawrocki in his dispute with Tusk, it was clear which side they were on.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was also present at the Visegrád summit. She withdrew from the joint press conference at the last minute, apparently to prevent her presence alongside Nawrocki from being seen as support for his position in the constitutional crisis in Poland. Whilst the Visegrád partners thus received and supported Nawrocki as a full-fledged head of state, the EU leader deliberately kept her distance.

France and the veto issue

In Brussels, there is not only concern about developments in Poland, but also growing unease over a possible victory for the Rassemblement National (RN) in the presidential elections of April 2027. Following an appeal ruling on¹⁰ July, Marine Le Pen is formally allowed to stand again and has put herself forward as a candidate, although a further appeal to the Court of Cassation is still pending. Should she be disqualified after all, party leader Jordan Bardella stands ready to take her place. The RN wants to reduce France’s contributions to the EU, put the national interest first again and close the borders to illegal migration.

So it is not only in Poland that the issue of sovereignty is at stake. The question is a topical one across the entire EU, particularly in light of recent remarks by the President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, that Member States should simply give up their vetoes. Otherwise, the EU cannot present a united front to third countries. And this will certainly be the case if the EU, as planned, expands further to include even more Member States.

The battle over the EU’s direction rages on. How this will ultimately be resolved is uncertain, but perhaps the outcome of the forthcoming elections in the major European countries will offer some insight into the direction the EU is heading. Towards further federalisation or back towards sovereign Member States, which only cooperate where cross-border issues are at stake.

Sources consulted:

1PolskieRadio.pl — Poland sees growing case for keeping the złoty, finance minister says.

2Notes From Poland — Poland to increase gold reserves to the world’s 10th largest.

3Al Jazeera — Polish police deployed to the Supreme Court after chief judge suspended.

4Johannes Vervloed (@Diplo_JV) on X

5Johannes Vervloed (@Diplo_JV) on X

6EUobserver — ‘Emotional part’ of Polish court crisis is ‘closer to over’ says Tusk, amid talk of EU mediation

7Notes From Poland — Has Karol Nawrocki’s first year as Poland’s president been a success?

8Johannes Vervloed (@Diplo_JV) on X

9Johannes Vervloed (@Diplo_JV) on X

10Ynet — France’s Marine Le Pen cleared for 2027 presidential run, but with an electronic tag.