A coup in Poland? Here’s what the power struggle is really about

Behind the police cordons and accusations of a takeover lies a battle over state institutions, EU money and political survival This weekend, a conflict flared up with renewed intensity between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who leads his country’s governing coalition, and his opponent, President Karol Nawrocki, a supporter of the Law and Justice (PiS) party. The presence of police equipment and a significant deployment of security forces on the streets of Warsaw, the emergence of memes across the Polish internet featuring the key figures involved, and reports that the country’s presidential plane had to turn back while over Africa have all drawn global attention to the unfolding situation. What brought Poland to this point, and how far could its leaders go to break the deadlock? What happened, and why?The current constitutional crisis – described by right-wing conservatives as an attempted coup d’état – is a direct consequence of a protracted conflict between elites, often referred to as the “Polish-Polish war.” This latest, acute phase of the confrontation began when a faction of judges on the Constitutional Tribunal, loyal to the government, announced the suspension of the po...