Nawrocki sets a Polish veto record, paralysing Tusk's agenda
37 presidential vetoes in ten months turn cohabitation into open warfare
Summary
By 11–12 June 2026, Poland's President Karol Nawrocki had issued 37 vetoes since taking office on 6 August 2025, surpassing Aleksander Kwaśniewski's record of 35 over a decade and dwarfing Andrzej Duda's 19 over two terms. Targets span EU defence loans, judicial reform, crypto regulation, an HIV-treatment bill and beverage taxes — roughly one veto every 8.4 days. The cohabitation between the nationalist president and Donald Tusk's pro-EU coalition has tipped into open warfare, with Tusk earlier threatening Nawrocki with a State Tribunal over blocked funds. The coalition holds 242 of 460 Sejm seats — short of the three-fifths needed to override — leaving the agenda stalled until the next election in 2027, the same standoff visible in Nawrocki signs Poland's 2026 budget but sends it to the Constitutional Tribunal.
By the numbers
- 37 — vetoes in ~10 months (≈1 every 8.4 days).
- 35 / 19 — Kwaśniewski's (10 yrs) and Duda's (two terms) totals, for comparison.
- 242 of 460 — coalition Sejm seats, below the override threshold.
- 2027 — next scheduled election.
Why it matters
A president without a parliamentary majority is using the veto to freeze a governing coalition's program wholesale — including EU-funded defence measures — in a way no Polish president has before. With no override path, Poland's domestic agenda is effectively gridlocked until the next vote.
What to watch
- Whether Tusk pursues the State Tribunal threat.
- Which vetoed laws the government tries to route around.
- The veto count's effect on 2027 election positioning.