Polish President Karol ​Nawrocki turned back to Poland on Friday while en route to Senegal after a ‌far-right ally was suspended as head of the country’s top court, escalating a battle with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government over control of the judiciary.

Earlier on Friday, the Constitutional Tribunal said its longest-serving judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska had suspended Bogdan ​Swieczkowski, the tribunal’s president and an appointee of Tusk’s far-right predecessor, and was now in ​charge of the court.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the tribunal late on Friday ⁠amid a heavy police presence, while right-wing politicians addressed the crowd accusing Tusk’s government of carrying ​out a coup against the court.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki attends a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland on Oct. 20, 2026. RADEK PIETRUSZKA/EPA/Shutterstock

“At a moment like this, the President must be in Poland. I ​am cutting short my flight to Senegal. I am returning,” Nawrocki said on X.

New drama in long-running conflict over court

A long-running political dispute over the Constitutional Tribunal has effectively paralysed the institution, with the pro-European government and the nationalist president ​refusing to recognise appointees put forward by the other side.

Tusk, writing on X, said his government was ​seeking to restore the rule of law, which the European Union had accused his predecessors — the Law and Justice ‌Party — ⁠of subverting.

“This process is difficult, at times even painful, and requires decisive action. There is no other way,” he said.

The dispute dates back to 2015, when the nationalist Law and Justice sought to appoint judges to seats already filled by the previous government.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki leaves the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw, Poland. Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS

Its nominees gained a majority on the Constitutional Tribunal, ​while critics at home and abroad ​said the court ⁠no longer met the standards of an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

After Tusk’s coalition took office in 2023 it pledged to restore the rule ​of law and reform the court, but Law and Justice ally Nawrocki ​has acted ⁠to thwart those efforts since his election as president in 2025.

Earlier this year, Nawrocki refused to swear in three of six judges nominated by parliament, while Swieczkowski, a former deputy justice minister in the Law and ⁠Justice ​administration, declined to seat judges elected by the current parliamentary majority.

Last ​month, the parliament appointed Tusk ally Maciej Berek to the tribunal, which critics said undermined the government’s stated goal of restoring checks ​and balances.