(ANSA-AFP) - WARSAW, 31 OTT - Poland's president called urgent crisis talks with party representatives on Saturday after a dramatic showdown at the country's constitutional court between the centrist government and nationalist right. Karol Nawrocki cut short a trip to Senegal and returned to Warsaw, where police had surrounded the court on Friday following the suspension of its president Bogdan Swieczkowski. He said the talks were necessary because of "the threat to internal security", in a statement read on his behalf outside court the next morning. Dozens of police guarded the building as followers of the opposition right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) protested what they called an attempt by Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government to seize control of the institution. The court's official X account said there had been a "coup d'etat" and some demonstrators chanted "Tusk traitor" and tried to push through security barricades. Police said three people were arrested. US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, warned all sides: "Don't take any action that could provoke violence or further escalation." "The last thing Poland needs is a confrontation that spirals into something far worse," he said on X, adding the country a friend and ally of the United States while voicing concern for its stability. Tusk's government has been trying for weeks to force out the court's judges, who were appointed by the previous PiS government that ruled from 2015 to 2023. The court frequently ruled in favour of Polish legislation over EU law and the European Union accused Poland's highest court of being too close to the nationalist political power of the time. (ANSA-AFP).