Karol Nawrocki forced his way into Poland’s Constitutional Court after a dispute erupted over the suspension of the court’s president.

The Polish president had been on his way to Senegal but turned back on Friday (30 October) after the Constitutional Tribunal said its longest-serving judge, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, had suspended Bogdan Swieczkowski, the tribunal’s president and an appointee of the right-wing Law and Justice party, and assumed leadership of the court.

A video posted on X by Maciej Berek, a former minister who was appointed to the court by Prime Minister Donald Tusk in September, on Saturday showed Mr Nawrocki and his staff pushing past people— including Ms Korwin-Piotrowska—blocking the entrance to the court.

A political standoff over the court has effectively paralysed the institution, with the pro-European government and nationalist president continuously refusing to recognise appointees put forward by the opposing side.