'An unprecedented situation': Constitutional crisis wobbles Warsaw

Some breaking news: Initial results suggest that Bulgaria has just elected its first female president, the Kremlin-friendly Iliana Yotova. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Russia's invasion of Ukraine, not far from Bulgaria, has seemingly played a significant role the election in NATO's eastern flank nation that occured over the weekend. Throughout the campaign, Yotova repeatedly advocated for a peaceful solution for Ukraine through negotiations with Russia. She said she wanted to be a Bulgarian "President of Peace". More updates on the Bulgarian election here. Now, let’s dive into the political feud gripping Warsaw. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is attempting to keep his country together after addressing the a deepening Constitutional Tribunal crisis in a televised speech on Saturday evening. He vowed that the rule of law would prevail over violence as tensions over the country's judiciary reach boiling point. "Restoring the rule of law is our duty," Tusk said, adding: "After years of PiS-led lawlessness, this is a difficult process, sometimes painful, and it requires decisive action. There is no other way.” The dispute over the composition of Poland’s top court has fuelled an open confrontation with opposition President Karol Nawrocki, who attempted to enter the Tribunal building amid a deadlock over the appointment of new judges on Friday night. What happened? Police surrounded the building as the explosive scenes unfolded live on television, drawing attention to the crisis beyond Poland and into the wider European political debate. Law and Justice (PiS) has accused Tusk’s government of attempting a coup, while the government says it is pushing ahead with long-needed reforms to restore the rule of law after years of PiS interference in the judiciary. Marcin Przydacz, Polish Secretary of State and adviser to President Nawrocki, just told Europe Today that there is no "legal basis" for the behaviour of the government. "The two most important judges in Poland also said publicly that there is absolutely no legitimate basis," he added. "There is a constitutional crisis, definitely, and the people of Poland gathered in front of the tribunal protesting against this kind of situation," he said. Watch. Brussels weighs in: European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath told Euronews in a statement that the Berlaymont is closely following developments. But the Venice Commission has been clear, however, that appointing the new judges lies within the power of the Sejm and “full respect for the rule of law is what Polish citizens expect and deserve.” The Venice Commission is the Council of Europe’s top advisory body on constitutional law. Polish Member of the European Parliament Michał Wawrykiewicz (EPP) of the Civic Coalition, which is Tusk's political party, just told Europe Today that the constitutional crisis first started in 2015 when Law and Justice rose to power. Tusk is attempting to rewrite these alleged wrongs and "restore rule of law". "The government, the majority in the parliament, and the judges elected by the parliament are (all) acting according to the rulings of the European courts, of the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, according to what the Venice Commission confirmed two weeks ago," he said. "This is an unprecedented situation, not only in Poland but in the whole of Europe," Michałsaid. Watch. A Ukraine update from a star: Famed Danish actor and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has been travelling through war-ravaged Kyiv to witness the destruction brought by Russia’s relentless invasion. The ‘Game of Thrones’ thespian spoke with Euronews’ EU editor Maria Tadeo about the impact of the Kremlin’s attacks on the capital’s “vulnerable energy infrastructure”. “Ukrainians can't do this on their own. They need us to help them,” he implored. Kyiv’s estimated three million residents are familiar with waking up in the middle of the night to air raid sirens or text messages informing them to immediately seek shelter. According to reporting by our breaking news team this morning, however, this has become only more fraught through cyber attacks. Fighting for rest: Nikolaj told Maria that he had only been in the capital for one week and had just begun to scratch the surface of the exhaustion the Ukrainians must feel every day due to the invasion. “Fatigue is real here in Ukraine. Trust me, I don't think anyone's more exhausted by this war than the Ukrainians,” he said. “We all understand that we have to help civilians. It's that simple. We have to. There's no choice. And fatigue, yeah, we can all get tired, but that doesn't mean we have to stop and give up.” Watch. London in Brussels: UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting will tour the Schuman Roundabout for his first official visit, ahead of the EU-UK Summit on 20 November. Streeting is meeting EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas before holding talks with European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius then flying to Germany for a meeting with his Berlin contemporary, Boris Pistorius. As it stands, Shona Murray writes, the UK’s participation in the EU's defence frameworks is minimal for a country that used to be a member of the club — although both sides clearly see the value in exploring closer cooperation, they say. Un-SAFE? The UK recently declined to opt in to the EU's €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence loan programme, after the Commission offered a multi-billion euro entry fee. London said it was too expensive and wasn’t value for money, according to UK sources at the time. British companies can still participate in EU-funded defence projects under third-country procurement rules, but their involvement is capped at 35% of a project's value. With less than three weeks to go before the much-hyped summit, however, this meeting might be a harbinger of how far the two sides are prepared to go in rebuilding ties. As one Brussels source told Euronews ahead of today's defence-focused meeting: "Don't expect hard news." Bridge to Burnham: "Burnham wants as close ties as possible," with the EU, the source said, adding that progress on security and defence was easier to achieve than on issues such as youth mobility and trade. Yet even on defence progress remains slow. “The dialogue provides an opportunity for both sides to discuss shared Euro-Atlantic security priorities and identify next steps in defence cooperation ahead of the summit,” a statement from Streeting shared with Euronews reads. The Ebola crisis should scare Europe: The Ebola outbreak in Congo passed a grim milestone late last week — 10,000 confirmed cases — and spurred questions about whether health authorities are losing their ability to contain it. Nearly half the infected people in this outbreak have died, and some experts say there are reasons to worry this could grow into the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Others don't think it will reach that level. Researchers are currently working on updated projections. Experts also are hopeful that a vaccine will become available next year that could help control it. As my colleague Giedre Peseckyte previously reported, however, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) deployed a team of experts to Nigeria late October as Ebola spreads across Africa. Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and founder of the Elders organisation, explained to Europe Today there is significant cause for Europe to be concerned. “If you have a highly communicable disease and you're not able to trace the contacts because you don't have the resources to do it, it will spread further,” she said. “This could be really serious, particularly for African countries, but then it will spread to Europe.” Watch. Trump rallies in Iowa and Kansas in final push as Democratic divisions shake up Michigan US President Donald Trump rounded up his midterm campaign efforts on Sunday, holding rallies in Iowa and Kansas, while divisions emerged among Democrats in Michigan, threatening to undermine their effort to retake the Senate. The president was in Salina, Kansas, and Dubuque, Iowa, where Republicans are facing strong competition from Democratic candidates in both states. However in Iowa, Trump insisted Republicans are on the verge of sweeping victories. “We're going to elect ‘America first’ Republicans up and down the line,” he said near the start of a speech that lasted two hours. Evelyn Dom has more. More from our newsrooms Russia arrests minor after US embassy warns of 'credible threat of a mass casualty event'. Russian state media published a statement from the Federal Security Service (FSB) on Sunday announcing that a minor had been detained in relation to the threat. Irina Sheludkova has more. Swiss foreign minister makes first North Korea visit since 2003 as diplomatic office reopens. Switzerland is renewing direct talks with North Korea as tensions rise on the peninsula. Seoul hopes the Swiss office will help it engage with Pyongyang. Dogyu Lee has the latest. 'A lot of lies': Kaja Kallas criticises Russian FM Lavrov following G20 meetings. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for speaking dishonestly on topics, such as the invasion of Ukraine, during talks with G20 ministers in Atlanta on Friday. Nathan Rennolds has the story. We’re also keeping an eye on EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas meets with Secretary of State for Defence of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Wes Streeting in Brussels. European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen participates in the EU-Türkiye High-Level Dialogue on Agriculture in Ankara. European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union Maria Luís Albuquerque delivers a keynote speech and participates in a fireside discussion at the Financial System Conference 2026 in Dublin. That’s it for today. Shona Murray contributed to this newsletter.