Poland is set to begin recognising same-sex marriages contracted in other European countries, the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced, marking what Polish media are calling a historic breakthrough for LGBT rights in the largely Catholic nation.

The move follows binding rulings from two courts. In November 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that a same-sex marriage legally performed in one EU member state must be respected across the bloc — a case triggered specifically by Poland's refusal to recognise the marriage of two Polish men who had wed in Germany. Earlier this month, Poland's own Supreme Administrative Court issued a similar ruling. Warsaw's city hall says its civil registry office is now prepared to carry out the first transcriptions of foreign marriage certificates within days, with the new rules expected to extend across the country in the near future.

Speaking before a cabinet meeting, Tusk framed the decision in terms of both legal obligation and basic dignity. "This is a matter of the rule of law, but above all of human dignity and human rights," he said. "There are differing views in Poland on same-sex couples — shaped by tradition, faith, experience and political conviction — but on the question of human dignity, the right to happiness, and the right to equal treatment by the state, we cannot disagree." Tusk also offered a public apology on behalf of the Polish government to "everyone who for many years felt rejected and humiliated," acknowledging that the state had failed them. The apology echoed an earlier on-air apology broadcast on TVP, Poland's public broadcaster, following the change of government.

The announcement is a significant reversal from the policies of Poland's previous conservative government, which made the stigmatisation of LGBT people a central part of its political rhetoric, overseeing the creation of so-called "LGBT-free zones" in parts of the country and barring same-sex couples from adopting children. Since the return of a pro-European government in late 2023, the political climate has shifted considerably, though same-sex unions remain legally prohibited in Poland itself — meaning that for now, only couples who have married abroad can benefit from this recognition.

The practical implementation has already hit its first obstacle. The male couple expected to be the first to benefit from a transcription has threatened legal action, citing the humiliating nature of the paperwork: in the absence of a form designed for two male spouses, the second partner's details must be entered in a marginal "annotation" field. The difficulty reflects how far Poland still has to go: according to the Rainbow Map index published this week, Poland remains the third most homophobic country in the European Union, behind Romania and Bulgaria.