Hundreds of Thousands of Poles Participate in Nationalist March

A far-right rally and march involving hundreds of thousands of Poles just days after a deadly mass shooting in Krakow is raising political tensions.Poles gathered in Warsaw Wednesday for an annual Independence Day event that the ruling centrist party claims is used as a platform for racism and antisemitism. The march’s official slogan this year — “A Pole is the master in Poland” — was selected to “emphasize our opposition to foreign influences on Poland and underscore that Poland should be a nation-state without mass immigration,” march spokesman Rafal Buca told Notes from Poland.The nationalist groups behind the event hoped to use it as a display of unity ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. They claimed as many as half-a-million people attended the rally.Extra police were deployed at Poland’s capital to keep the calm as marchers carried burning flares and white-and-red flags through the streets chanting “long live a great Poland” and other slogans. Previous marches have sometimes turned violent with participants clashing with police.Warsaw’s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, said he joined police and fire officials to monitor this year’s event. No major incidents were initially reported.The Independence Day march attracts supporters of the country’s right-wing Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, or Law and Justice party. It governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, before losing power to a pro-European Union center-left coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Law and Justice-backed president, Karol Nawrocki, took part in Wednesday’s event. “The march carries primarily a political message, with the president’s presence significantly strengthening it,” Jan Kochanowski University political science professor Agnieszka Kasinska-Metryka told Bloomberg.Mr. Nawrocki spoke out to warn about a loss of personal liberties. There is a temporary ban on carrying weapons in Warsaw after the November 7 shooting, and there are calls for tighter gun control laws.There is an investigation into whether the gunman — who killed six people and injured 15 more while firing from a car at the main square of Krakow — was motivated by far-right ideology. The gunman died in a hospital after a shootout with police. His family was later found murdered in their home northeast of Krakow. Interior minister Marcin Kierwinski said the gunman had “very, very radical views.”Mr. Tusk and Mr. Nawrocki put aside political differences to attend a Tuesday vigil together for the victims of the shooting. Mr. Tusk stayed away from Warsaw and spent Independence Day in the city of Szczecin. He issued a public invitation for the president to visit his home for talks. “Although on this one day, he could have tried to unite Poles rather than divide them. What a shame,” Mr. Tusk said hours later in an X post.There are ongoing tensions after police entered the country’s top court late last month and its leader was suspended as a power struggle over the judicial branch’s control. Mr. Tusk promised to restore judicial independence for the court system, but the Constitutional Tribunal has remained in the hands of the right-wing opposition and has refused to seat new judges selected by the current administration.

Hundreds of Thousands of Poles Participate in Nationalist March

Hundreds of Thousands of Poles Participate in Nationalist March

More from the New York Sun

Trump’s $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit Survives as Judge Launches Withering Attack on Landmark Supreme Court Ruling

Politics at Play? Trump’s Hopes for Men’s Open at Turnberry Snubbed by Scotland’s Finest

As America Nears Losing Measles Elimination Status, Children Under One Are Most Vulnerable

Bessent Moves Onto Military Base Due To Iran Death Threats

Birdsong of Peace

Cavaliers Ride Again in ‘Rivals,’ Defying an Increasingly Puritan Britain

Falling Short in Effort To Impeach Hegseth Shows Trump Foes Danger of Putting Partisanship Over Governing

Moored at Charleston Harbor, United States Ship Yorktown Is a Steel Sentinel Saluting America’s Veterans

More from the New York Sun

Trump’s $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit Survives as Judge Launches Withering Attack on Landmark Supreme Court Ruling

Politics at Play? Trump’s Hopes for Men’s Open at Turnberry Snubbed by Scotland’s Finest

As America Nears Losing Measles Elimination Status, Children Under One Are Most Vulnerable

Bessent Moves Onto Military Base Due To Iran Death Threats

Birdsong of Peace

Cavaliers Ride Again in ‘Rivals,’ Defying an Increasingly Puritan Britain

Falling Short in Effort To Impeach Hegseth Shows Trump Foes Danger of Putting Partisanship Over Governing

Moored at Charleston Harbor, United States Ship Yorktown Is a Steel Sentinel Saluting America’s Veterans