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Polish leaders march with far right on Independence Day Poland's president addresses far right at independence march
(about 2 hours later)
Poland’s president, prime minister and other leaders have led an Independence Day march that included members of nationalist organisations, the first time Polish state officials have marched with the far-right groups. More than 200,000 people are estimated to have taken part in a controversial independence-day march through central Warsaw on Sunday, after a last-minute agreement was struck between senior politicians and the event’s far-right organisers.
Two hundred thousand people marched in Warsaw to mark the 100th anniversary of Poland’s rebirth as an independent state at the end of the first world war, according to an initial police estimate. The March of Independence, organised by nationalist and far-right groups and held annually in the Polish capital on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the re-establishment of the country’s independence in 1918, has grown dramatically in scale over the past decade, attracting activists from across Europe.
Over the past decade, nationalist organisations have held Independence Day marches on 11 November that have included racist slogans, flares and in some years, acts of aggression. Last year’s event, which attracted an estimated 60,000 people, received international condemnation for the presence of racist and xenophobic banners and slogans and violence directed at counterprotesters.
Officials sought to hold a single, government-led march for the centennial ceremonies on Sunday, but negotiations broke down over requests for the groups to leave their banners at home. An agreement on a joint march was reached in recent days. There was widespread concern in Poland that the march would overshadow official commemorations of the centenary of the country’s rebirth as an independent state at the end of the first world war. Preparations were thrown into chaos on Wednesday after Warsaw’s outgoing mayor, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, announced she was banning the march due to concerns surrounding security and “aggressive nationalism”.
The president, Andrzej Duda, the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the leader of the conservative ruling party, Jarosław Kaczyński, marched in a group led by soldiers with a large flag bearing the words: “For you Poland.” Hours after Gronkiewicz-Waltz’s announcement Andrzej Duda, Poland’s rightwing president, announced the Polish state would be organising its own march at the same time and along the same route as the nationalist march. But it was unclear what would happen if a court overturned the mayor’s ban, which it did on Thursday evening.
Walking a small distance behind them were the nationalists, many of them burning flares, creating flashes of red light and smoke. Many carried national flags, but a handful of other emblems were observed. That led to frantic negotiations between the Polish authorities and nationalist organisations, resulting in an agreement in which participants in the state-sanctioned section of the event would march first, followed closely behind by participants in the nationalist march, separated by a cordon of military police.
Those included the flag of the National Radical Camp, a far-right group that was one of the main march organisers. The camp’s flag has a falanga, a far-right symbol dating from the 1930s of a stylised hand with a sword. Lining up in parallel columns, Polish soldiers stood side-by-side with members of the National-Radical Camp (ONR), the successor to a pre-war Polish fascist movement, and representatives of Forza Nuova, an Italian neo-fascist movement, as they were addressed by Duda at the march’s inauguration.
There were also a few flags of Forza Nuova, an Italian group whose leader, Roberto Fiore, describes himself as fascist. “I want us to walk under our white-and-red banners together and in an air of joy. To give honour to those who fought for Poland, and to be glad that it is free, sovereign and independent,” Duda said, before leading the crowd in chants of “glory and praise to the heroes” and a rendition of the national anthem.
As the Polish president spoke at the start of the march, he was at times obscured by the heavy smoke from the flares. Dwarfing previous iterations of the march in terms of size, this year’s event appeared to feature far fewer overtly racist banners and symbols than last year, although white supremacist symbols such as the Celtic cross were present, and some media outlets reported instances of racist chanting.
Throughout the day, solemn ceremonies and masses were held in cities and small towns to commemorate the nation’s regained statehood after 123 years of foreign rule. The far-right All-Polish Youth, a co-organiser of the march, posted a video of an EU flag being set on fire on the march, as some people chanted “down with the European Union.”
Poland’s political divisions were also on display, as police in riot gear separated marchers from counter-demonstrators gathered under a large banner reading “Constitution”. Some marchers threw objects and fireworks, making obscene gestures and labelling their opponents prostitutes and communists.
Many of those marching sought to distance themselves from any controversy, saying they simply wished to celebrate their country’s independence.
“I just want to celebrate the 100th anniversary. To see all these Polish flags, it’s a beautiful view. I am not involved in politics, I am not involved in the war between politicians,” said Piotr, a biotechnologist from Krakow who was attending the march for the first time. “The atmosphere is very good – except for a couple of groups whose slogans are not OK.”
PolandPoland
EuropeEurope
The far rightThe far right
Donald TuskDonald Tusk
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