Tusk proposes private talks with Nawrocki to defuse political tensions in Poland
Donald Tusk (photo: Getty Images)
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wants to meet with President Karol Nawrocki to discuss a dispute involving the Constitutional Tribunal. The meeting could take place this week, according to Euronews.
Premier Tusk said he was ready to talk after a National Security Council meeting. He proposed a face-to-face conversation to find a way to permanently ease tensions between the two sides.
"I am ready this week for a one-to-one meeting so that we can consider how to reduce this tension permanently," the Polish prime minister said.
At the same time, the prime minister does not expect him and the president to reach an agreement on every issue during the talks. According to him, despite their differences, both sides must recognize their shared responsibility for the country's situation.
Tusk also stressed that, amid growing threats to Poland from Russia, it is important to find common ground on security and domestic affairs. He hopes that dialogue with the president will help ease the political confrontation.
"We both feel a shared responsibility to try, in the face of the mounting threat from the east, to look wherever it is possible for agreement on security and internal order, and to calm these emotions," Tusk added.
The prime minister separately noted that he does not want to turn the meeting into a public political event. Therefore, the talks' date will not be announced in advance.
"We want to talk one to one without this pressure, without the political jitters. Sometimes such a face to face conversation, in calm, brings certain solutions," he explained.
The president's office confirmed that it had received the meeting proposal. Karol Nawrocki's spokesperson, Rafał Leśkiewicz, recalled that the president had repeatedly said he was ready to hold talks at the prime minister's request.
According to him, the meeting date will be announced once finalized.
Meanwhile, presidential minister Marcin Przydacz pointed to Nawrocki's schedule: on Wednesday, he is due to travel to Slovakia for a meeting of the presidents of the Visegrád Group countries.
Przydacz also took the opportunity to criticize the government's actions.
"I hope that during that time the prime minister will not be using the police to take over any constitutional bodies of the state," he added.
Background
The political standoff between Donald Tusk's government and President Karol Nawrocki escalated over a dispute surrounding the composition of Poland's Constitutional Tribunal.
The conflict concerns the appointment of new judges and the powers of the court's leadership.
On October 30, the situation escalated into an open confrontation: the president opposed the government's actions, while opposition supporters staged protests outside the tribunal building.
That night, Nawrocki forced his way into the Constitutional Tribunal building, which police and judges elected by the current Sejm controlled.
