Poland's president Karol Nawrocki, a right-wing independent, has blocked nominations of new judges to the constitutional court. (EPA Images pic)WARSAW: Poland's president Karol Nawrocki held crisis talks with political leaders on Saturday after a dramatic showdown at the constitutional court in an escalating dispute over judicial independence.

The row over appointing the court's judges has spawned a constitutional crisis in the EU country, where a centrist government is vying with a nationalist head of state and opposition.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government has been trying for weeks to force out the court's judges, arguing they are not politically neutral.

He faces fierce resistance from the right-wing PiS party, whose former government appointed them.