Warsaw Independence March passes without major incidents — Notes from Poland

In Warsaw, Poland, the annual Independence March, attended by President Karol Nawrocki, passed without major incidents. The event took place under heightened security measures following a shooting attack in Krakow four days earlier, Notes from Poland reports.

The march was held under the slogan “A Pole is master in Poland.” Organisers’ spokesperson Rafał Buła said it was intended to express opposition to foreign influence on Poland and mass immigration. The event is primarily organised by people linked to the far-right political alliance Confederation, although representatives of various right-wing forces were among the participants.

Opposition politicians

Politicians from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, the centre-right Development Plus party, and the radical-right Confederation of the Polish Crown attended the march. Organising committee member Marcin Osowski said on WNET that around 500,000 people took part in the event. At the time of publication, city authorities had not released an official estimate of the number of participants.

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński called the march a show of strength and a possible start to the election campaign ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. One of Confederation’s leaders, Krzysztof Bosak, called for this community to be turned into an electoral victory and for a “pro-Polish government” to be formed.

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Security and the government’s position

Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski said that the march was proceeding calmly, apart from the illegal use of pyrotechnics, including a flare held by Sławomir Mentzen. In previous years, clashes between participants and police sometimes occurred during the march, but in recent times it has mostly proceeded peacefully.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk marked Independence Day in Szczecin. He again invited Nawrocki to his home for talks on the crisis surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal and stressed the need for dialogue without bitterness and hatred.

According to the publication, during the attack in Krakow, 24-year-old Michał Oksiński killed six people and wounded more than a dozen while shooting from a car. The justice minister said that “clear traces of right-wing extremism” had been identified in the attacker’s activities.