Nawrocki, a conservative backed by the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, will address supporters on Thursday at the presidential palace in Warsaw.
He took office on August 6, 2025, beginning a period of cohabitation in which the president and government represent opposing political camps.
Poland’s president can veto legislation, appoint judges and ambassadors, and influence defense and foreign policy.
The President's Office said Nawrocki had vetoed 41 bills, signed 255 and submitted 22 legislative proposals during his first year.
Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz called it “a good year for Poland,” despite difficult relations with the government.
He said Nawrocki’s main domestic achievement was "consistently safeguarding the Polish constitution."
Government spokesman Adam Szłapka, on the other hand, called the first year “a bad period” and said Nawrocki had vetoed more bills than any previous Polish president.
"It is clear that the president thinks in purely political terms and in terms of making life more difficult for Poles," Szłapka said.
The most contentious veto concerned Poland's participation in Security Action for Europe (SAFE), a European Union loan program supporting joint defense purchases.
The government said Poland could obtain more than PLN 180 billion (about EUR 42 billion, USD 48 billion) for the armed forces, defense industry, Border Guard and police.
Nawrocki argued that the financial conditions could leave Poland carrying debt if the European Union suspended payments.
The government responded by authorizing ministers to sign the loan agreement under its own implementation program.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the SAFE dispute would become one of the defining events of Nawrocki's presidency.
The president also vetoed legislation allowing two adults, including same-sex couples, to register a formal cohabitation agreement before a notary.
The arrangement would have regulated property, maintenance obligations, housing rights, access to medical information and funeral decisions.
Nawrocki said it could weaken the constitutional status of marriage, defined in Poland as a union between a woman and a man.
Other vetoes concerned renewable energy, education reform, cryptocurrency regulation, judicial changes and a new national park.
Nawrocki vetoed three versions of legislation regulating the cryptocurrency market. Tusk accused him of protecting interests linked to the political right, an allegation the president’s camp rejected.
Nawrocki also submitted proposals including income tax relief for families with at least two children, lower energy prices and support for the planned Central Transport Hub (CPK), a major airport and rail hub.
The president and government repeatedly clashed over the courts.
Nawrocki refused to appoint 46 judges, accusing some candidates of challenging Poland’s constitutional and legal order.
Tusk's government says it is repairing damage caused by judicial changes introduced under PiS. Nawrocki rejects its approach and says judges cannot be divided into legitimate and illegitimate groups based on how they were appointed.
The dispute widened after Nawrocki appointed judicial assessors without the prime minister’s countersignature.
Assessors are junior judges who hear cases before receiving permanent appointments. Tusk later signed documents related to the appointments so the assessors could legally begin work. He accused the president and the Constitutional Tribunal of trying to bypass the constitution.
Nawrocki has called for a new constitution by 2030, saying the present division of powers between the president and prime minister is dysfunctional. He has expressed support for a stronger presidential system.
He established a New Constitution Council to prepare proposals. Government officials accused him of trying to expand presidential authority without first changing the constitution.
The two sides are also divided over ambassadors. Nawrocki and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski have failed to agree on appointments, and the president has not signed an ambassadorial nomination.
Foreign policy brought Nawrocki some of his clearest successes and sharpest controversies.
He made 29 foreign visits, including four trips to the United States. President Donald Trump pledged to maintain the US military presence in Poland and invited Nawrocki to attend the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.
Relations with Ukraine deteriorated. Nawrocki has not visited Kyiv and says Poland must continue supporting Ukraine without becoming a "hostage" to the relationship.
In June, he revoked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, after a Ukrainian military unit was named for the "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)."
Zelensky returned the decoration. Several former Ukrainian presidents and senior officials also relinquished Polish honors in protest.
The disputes have strengthened Nawrocki’s position as an independent center of conservative power and kept his conflict with Tusk’s government at the heart of his presidency.
Tusk on Wednesday sharply criticized Nawrocki’s first year in office, citing disputes over defense, presidential pardons and civil rights.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Piotr Urbaniak