Prime Minister Donald Tusk has apologised to same-sex couples for the “years of rejection and humiliation” they have experienced due to Poland not legally recognising their relationships.

He pledged that the government would seek “as soon as possible” to implement recent European and Polish court rulings requiring that Poland recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other EU member states.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Warsaw, who is a senior figure in Tusk’s party, separately announced today that his city would begin recognising same-sex marriages of Polish citizens conducted elsewhere in the EU, even before the government takes any action.

Tusk delivered his comments during public remarks ahead of a closed meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday. He said that he wanted to address the recent rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and Polish Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) requiring recognition of foreign same-sex marriages.

The prime minister noted that Poland, which does not recognise any form of same-sex relationships in domestic law, currently “lacks statutory regulations” allowing such recognition.

“We have committed to – and I will personally ensure this – abiding by the rulings as a priority,” declared Tusk. But he added that this must be done in a way that respects “the rule of law and compliance with the law”.

However, the prime minister also said he understands that, beyond the legal issues, this is “a matter of human dignity: the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state”.

“I would like to apologise to all those who, for many, many years, felt rejected and humiliated,” he continued. “For many years, the [Polish] state has failed the test.”

He urged politicians, when considering how to implement the rulings, “to respect the dignity of every human being and to remember that these people live around us, beside us, among us, and deserve the same feelings of respect, dignity and love as any other person”.

Although the CJEU’s ruling was issued last November, and the NSA’s in March this year, the government has still not agreed on the measures needed to implement them. Last month, a group of over 100 NGOs urged it take action.

In January, the digital affairs ministry proposed changes to the civil registry system, which currently only allows male-female marriages to be recognised. Instead, the ministry wants to categorise couples as “first spouse” and “second spouse”. However, that proposal is still being discussed with other government departments.

Moreover, while the digital affairs ministry hoped to make the change via a unilateral government regulation, the interior ministry has indicated that it may require a change to the law, which would necessitate parliamentary and presidential approval.

Tusk’s government does have a parliamentary majority, but his coalition includes some conservative elements who have previously expressed reluctance towards expanding LGBT+ rights.

Even if parliamentary approval is obtained, President Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition, appears certain to exercise his right to veto the legislation, as he has done with over 30 other bills since taking office nine months ago.

In his remarks today, Tusk did not specify the precise path he believes is needed to implement the CJEU and NSA rulings, but he mentioned both government resolutions and “additional legislative solutions in parliament”.

The prime minister also touched on the politically sensitive issue of the adoption of children by same-sex couples. He said that, whatever steps are taken to recognise foreign same-sex marriages, “this is in no way a path to [allowing] adoption”.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, who is a deputy leader of Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) party, also issued a statement today. It was his city that was ordered by the NSA to recognise the same-sex marriage of a Polish couple who wed in Germany.

Trzaskowski revealed that the NSA’s ruling had formally been submitted to the municipal authorities today. He pledged that “in the coming days”, the city would begin transcribing into its registry same-sex marriage certificates that courts have ordered be recognised, “despite a lack of regulation at the national level”.

Subsequently, Warsaw would also begin transcribing all “same-sex marriages of Polish citizens concluded in the territory of EU countries that have filed or will file such an application with the civil registry office”, added the mayor.

Trzaskowski did not say how exactly this would be achieved, only that it will be “performed within existing technical capabilities”. He also added that “questions remain as to the legal consequences” of transcribing foreign same-sex marriages into the Polish registry.

In this regard, the mayor welcomed Tusk’s announcement that the government would seek to introduce measures allowing transcription to take place uniformly across Poland.

However, he added that he hoped the national authorities would also proceed with a proposed bill intended to grant legal rights to same-sex couples, though without formally allowing them to marry or form a civil partnership.

The bill was agreed by the ruling coalition last October and approved by the cabinet in December, but still has not come up for a vote in parliament. Even if it were approved, however, it again appears likely that Nawrocki would veto it.

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.