Polish President Karol Nawrocki, the new US ambassador to the country, and leaders of the opposition populist, radical, and extremist right walked with their supporters today, on a national holiday, in the Independence March through the center of Warsaw.
The traditional march on Poland's Independence Day, organized by ultranationalists and radical Catholic youth with the presence of like-minded people from abroad, was held this year under the slogan "One Nation, Strong Poland".
City authorities estimate that there were around 100.000 participants at the rally, organizers say as many as 300.000, and independent estimates put the number at 160.000 people at most.
In the immediate vicinity of the march, in which families with children participated, there were also rows of hooligans, sympathizers of the extremist right with anti-European, anti-Semitic, xenophobic and racist slogans.
This year, the European Union (EU) flag was burned at the March, accompanied by chants of "Sovereignty is not for sale" and "This is Poland, not Brussels," and along with anti-European and anti-Ukrainian slogans, banners also featured an image of a monster draped in the star-studded EU flag, choking a poor Pole.
As every year, there were many anti-refugee banners in the crowd, including a large banner at the head of one section of the procession with the message "STOP immigration, it's time for deportations."
A core group of fans of football clubs from Silesia appeared with red and white scarves with a crossed-out mosque, but also a crossed-out Jewish symbol - the Star of David, and in the crowd, masked men carried a banner reading "Europe must be white or not."
The usual chants and messages against the government and Prime Minister Donald Tusk were also heard, and this year a large banner appeared saying "Poland is asking today, return Tusk to Berlin."
"We have a special guest with us today. One of us who rose to the highest office in the state, and today he has decided to go with us like any other ordinary participant. Go ahead, Mr. President," the leader of the radical nationalists from the Confederation, Krzysztof Bosak, greeted President Navrocki.
Bosak praised Navrocki for presenting the demands of the radical right and ultranationalists in his speech before the march at the central ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
"Our demands and slogans were heard from his mouth - Poland first, Poles first, our obligations are Polish. We want Poland to be independent, to develop, to remain Poland," Bosak told the march participants.
The Independence March this year passed more peacefully and without incidents, but in thick smoke from firecrackers, fireworks and other pyrotechnics and flares, even though the President of the Masovian Voivodeship explicitly banned their use this year.
In Warsaw, away from the March, members of anti-fascist and leftist organizations also gathered, while some citizens displayed messages from the terraces of their homes with the inscriptions "True patriots do not march with fascists."
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today from Gdansk, where the masses gathered to celebrate Independence Day, that no one in Poland has a monopoly on patriotism.
"Pay attention to the words of our anthem. Poland has not yet fallen while we are alive. Not you, not them, but us. In that word is the whole truth about our independence day," said Tusk.
Across the country, at various smaller and larger gatherings and marches with Polish flags, Poles are celebrating the 107th anniversary of the country's regaining independence in the streets and squares today.
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