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Tusk vows Poland won't yield to "lawlessness and violence" over tribunal crisis
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Saturday that keeping the peace cannot mean giving in to lawlessness and violence, praising police for their calm but firm response as the standoff over the Constitutional Tribunal entered a second night.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday evening defended his government's handling of the standoff at the Constitutional Tribunal, saying a democratic state "must be strong and capable of enforcing justice."
"Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we witnessed disgraceful events outside the Constitutional Tribunal building," Tusk said in a recorded address to the nation, standing in front of Polish and EU flags. "I very much hope that we will never have to witness similar scenes in Poland again. But the way to maintain peace cannot be to give in to lawlessness and violence."
Praise for police
Tusk said police were responding "very calmly, yet firmly, to all manifestations of aggression" and had protected the tribunal from its attackers. He called the attack on the court and its judges "another stage in the process of destroying the rule of law in Poland" by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and Presidents Andrzej Duda and Karol Nawrocki.
He said that together with the parliamentary majority he had tried to repair the tribunal, which in the form imposed by PiS was "not a real court" in the view of international institutions, Polish legal authorities and the public.
To make his point, Tusk compared the situation to a thief who snatches an elderly woman's handbag and then cries violence when caught, mocking "both-sides" bystanders who suggest the thief and the victim split the contents to calm things down.
He also said those seeking to destroy democracy in Poland find support among pro-Russian forces worldwide and are now benefiting from "an army of Russian bots" online.
Talks without Tusk
The address capped two turbulent days. On Friday, Judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, elected by parliament but never sworn in by Nawrocki, suspended Tribunal President Bogdan Święczkowski and his deputy for one month. Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and went to the court overnight.
On Saturday, the president hosted parliamentary parties for talks aimed at defusing tensions. Tusk did not attend, and his Civic Coalition and the New Left declined the invitation. The dispute comes about a year before Poland's next parliamentary election.
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