Warsaw (GNP): Two of Poland’s senior diplomats have resigned in protest at the crisis over the Constitutional Tribunal, widening a dispute that began with the suspension of the court’s president, Bogdan Święczkowski.
Jakub Kumoch, Poland’s ambassador to China, and Paweł Soloch, its ambassador to Romania, both said they could no longer serve in their posts because of events at home. Kumoch announced on X that he had submitted his resignation along with a request to be recalled.
Soloch said on X that, because of what he called an attempt to unlawfully take over the Constitutional Tribunal, he saw no possibility of continuing as ambassador to Romania. He added that he had informed President Karol Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski of his resignation. His words echo opposition politicians and the court itself, which have called the government’s move a coup.
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski answered on X within hours. He acknowledged what he called an unprofessional end to a diplomatic mission and said the departing envoy no longer represented the Republic. The exchange shows that the dispute has now reached Poland’s foreign service.
The resignations came as President Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by the Law and Justice party (PiS), took his own challenge to the court. He entered the tribunal building in Warsaw with his aides and the First President of the Supreme Court, after cutting short a trip to Senegal.
The roots of the crisis lie in 2015, when the PiS-led government of the time filled the tribunal with its own appointees. European courts later ruled that three of those judges had been improperly elected, and found that the tribunal was no longer an independent and impartial court.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk returned to power in 2023 promising to restore the rule of law and has refused to recognise the court in its current form. Nawrocki, elected in 2025, has blocked those efforts and refused to swear in judges chosen by the current parliament. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission said his refusal should not stop them from taking their seats.
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On Friday, the tribunal said judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska had suspended Święczkowski and taken charge of the court, and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek asked for him and his deputy to lose their immunity from prosecution.
Legal experts are divided on whether the suspension has any legal basis. With parliamentary elections due next year, the row is likely to shape the political contest between Tusk’s coalition and the right.
Kumoch said, “I have submitted my resignation and a request for recall.”
Sikorski said, “You no longer represent the Republic.”
Tusk said, “Restoring the rule of law is our duty.”
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
