EU urges Poland's president to confirm Constitutional Tribunal judges

The European Commission on Saturday urged Polish President Karol Nawrocki to confirm the appointment of eight new judges to the Constitutional Tribunal, amid an ongoing political and institutional crisis in the country. The appointments fall under the constitutional authority of the Sejm, Poland's lower house, but Nawrocki has refused to ratify them. The crisis has intensified since Prime Minister Donald Tusk's return to power in 2023, with police intervening at the court's premises in Warsaw on Friday. The EU has long argued that the tribunal is overly dependent on political power, particularly following appointments made by the PiS party since 2015. The European Court of Justice issued interim measures in May, ordering Polish authorities not to obstruct judges appointed by the Sejm in March 2016.