Poland News in English: Saturday, 24 October 2026

Coalition party leader quits Tusk's government

Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, leader of the centrist Poland 2050 party and minister for funds and regional policy, announced on 23 October that she is resigning from the government and from the leadership of her party. The trigger was Thursday's Sejm vote on a bill from the Polish People's Party (PSL), another junior coalition partner, which would have abolished the two-term limit for mayors introduced in 2018. The bill was narrowly defeated 213 to 215 after 15 coalition MPs joined the right-wing opposition in voting against it.

Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, who is not an MP and did not vote, opposed the bill and said the coalition had "stood against the people and in favour of backroom political deals". She said she was leaving the party "in the hands of its founder", Szymon Hołownia, who stepped down in September 2025 and then returned. Poland 2050 stays in the government, so Tusk's majority holds, but the row exposes coalition tensions a year before parliamentary elections that polls suggest are too close to call.

* Data source: Notes from Poland, 23 October 2026.

Tusk and Modi target doubling trade by 2030

Prime Minister Donald Tusk paid an official visit to India on 21-23 October, accompanied by a delegation of around 100 CEOs and industry representatives. In their joint statement of 22 October, Tusk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a target of doubling bilateral trade by 2030 and called for the early signing and ratification of the EU-India free trade agreement concluded at the January 2026 India-EU summit. Modi congratulated Poland on crossing the 1 trillion US dollar GDP mark, while Tusk pitched Poland as a gateway for Indian businesses into Central and Eastern Europe and the wider EU market. The statement names defence, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, mining and critical minerals, energy and ICT as priority sectors, and revives a bilateral agriculture working group.

* Data source: India-Poland Joint Statement, pmindia.gov.in, 22 October 2026.

Abortion protests return on the ban's sixth anniversary

Several hundred people gathered in the rain outside parliament in Warsaw on Thursday evening, and around 1,000 marched in Wrocław, with smaller demonstrations in Poznań, Katowice and Łódź, on the sixth anniversary of the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that introduced a near-total abortion ban. Many protesters held red cards, a warning to the government ahead of next autumn's elections. The demonstrations were far smaller than the mass protests of 2020, but the anger is aimed at the current coalition, which promised liberalisation in 2023 and has yet to deliver it.

Earlier this week the Sejm did approve two bills: one reversing the 2020 ruling, the other decriminalising assistance with unlawful abortions. Both are expected to be vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki, and protesters want more: abortion on demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy. Currently abortion is legal in Poland only when the pregnancy results from a crime or threatens the mother's life or health.

* Data source: Notes from Poland, 23 October 2026.

In short

Georgia murder charge. Polish prosecutors have charged a second Georgian man over the killing of Robert Kuzovkov, a Russian dissident also known as Semyon Skrepetsky, who was shot dead near his home in Poland earlier this year, Notes from Poland reported.

Border shooting acquittal. A court acquitted a Polish soldier who accidentally shot a Syrian refugee at the Belarus border; the man had been seeking 50,000 zł in compensation.

WWII memory row. Poland's foreign ministry condemned a Ukrainian region for honouring figures associated with Second World War massacres of Poles, saying that "glorifying criminal figures is contrary to European values".

* Data source: Notes from Poland front page, 23 October 2026.

* Photos: CC BY-SA 3.0 pl Adrian Grycuk via Wikimedia Commons (Sejm plenary hall, cover and body).

Frequently asked questions

Is the Polish government still standing after the resignation?

Yes. Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz resigned as funds and regional policy minister and as Poland 2050 leader, but her party remains in the coalition and Prime Minister Donald Tusk keeps his parliamentary majority. Poland 2050 founder Szymon Hołownia is expected to retake a leading role.

What did Poland and India agree during Tusk's visit?

According to the official joint statement of 22 October 2026, the two prime ministers set a target of doubling bilateral trade by 2030, endorsed closer cooperation in defence, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, mining, energy and ICT, and called for the early signing and ratification of the EU-India free trade agreement.

Did Poland's parliament change the abortion law this week?

The Sejm approved two bills on 21 October: one reversing the 2020 Constitutional Tribunal ruling that introduced the near-total ban, the other decriminalising helping women obtain unlawful abortions. Both are widely expected to be vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki, and protesters say the bills do not go far enough.

Sources

• Notes from Poland: Leader of junior coalition partner quits Polish government (23 October 2026)
• Prime Minister of India: India-Poland Joint Statement (22 October 2026)
• Notes from Poland: Protesters return to Poland's streets demanding liberalisation of abortion law (23 October 2026)
• Notes from Poland front page: further stories (23 October 2026)