Duda did not violate the Constitution by inviting Nawrocki to the RBN meeting. We checked the regulations.

On June 18th, at the Presidential Palace, a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) was held, convened by President Andrzej Duda. The main topics were the security of the energy system and Poland's priorities ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague. The meeting was also attended by the President-elect Karol Nawrocki.

On the same day, on the platform X, a post appeared published by MEP Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. The former Mayor of Warsaw wrote that “President Duda, by inviting K. Nawrocki as the president-elect, once again violated the Constitution”.

What do the regulations say about this?

According to Article 135 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the National Security Council is an advisory body to the President. However, according to Article 144, the President has the right to appoint members of the NSC. However, the Constitution does not specify anything about the composition of the Council. This composition is determined by the President's orders. This provision appeared both in the Order of the President of the Republic of Poland from May 24, 2010, regarding the procedure of the National Security Council signed by President Bronisław Komorowski (then acting as President-elect as Marshal of the Sejm), and in the Order of the President of the Republic of Poland from March 2, 2016, regarding the composition and procedure of the National Security Council signed by President Andrzej Duda. In both cases, there is a listing of the permanent members of the Council and the persons who participate in the meetings exceptionally.

According to the 2016 Order, the members include:

• The Marshal of the Sejm;
• The Marshal of the Senate;
• The Prime Minister;
• The Minister of National Defense;
• The Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration;
• The Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• The leaders of political parties holding a parliamentary club, a parliamentary group, or a parliamentary circle, or the chairpersons of these groups;
• The Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland;
• The Head of the National Security Bureau.

Meanwhile, paragraph 5 of the Order states that during meetings of the Council, at the invitation of the President, former Presidents of Poland and former Prime Ministers may also participate, as well as "other persons whose participation is justified due to the subject matter of the issues discussed". This provision also appeared in the Order of President Bronisław Komorowski.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the decision of whom to invite to the NSC meeting remains at the discretion of the President. In the case of the discussed session, President Andrzej Duda considered that the participation of the President-elect was important. The President argues as follows:

"Additionally, for the first time [...] I invited the President-elect of the Republic, Mr. Karol Nawrocki, to participate today as a guest of the National Security Council. But precisely to help the new President, who will take over the office of the President of the Republic in six weeks from me, to get acquainted and to be able to build knowledge on these issues which today – from the perspective of Poland's security – are among the most important; to participate in the discussion, listen to these voices also in the part that is classified. I hope that this was also an important experience for the President-elect, which will help him to better and more efficiently assume the duties of head of state in the near future."

Summary

The claim that President Andrzej Duda violated the Constitution by inviting President-elect Karol Nawrocki to participate in the NSC meetings is false, because the Constitution does not specify who can participate in the meetings of the National Security Council. It only establishes it as an advisory body to the President.

Meanwhile, according to the provisions of the Order from March 2, 2016, the President had the right to invite the President-elect to the NSC meeting if he deemed that their participation was justified due to the subject matter of the session.