Polish president forces entry into top court amid rule-of-law standoff

Polish President Karol Nawrocki forced his way into the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw shortly after midnight Saturday, escalating a rule-of-law conflict with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government. Nawrocki pushed through protesters at the court's entrance, including judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, whose disputed appointment as acting president triggered the crisis. He told her and other recently elected judges, "You are not judges," while both sides traded accusations of physical confrontation. The clash stems from Tusk's efforts to reverse judicial changes under the former PiS government. Korwin-Piotrowska suspended PiS-aligned court leaders, while Nawrocki accused the government of "forcibly seizing a constitutional institution" and summoned emergency consultations, with police deployed outside the tribunal.