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Poland's president addresses far right at independence march
Source: The Guardian
Poland's president addresses far right at independence march
Nationalists burning flares and carrying fascist flags marched at same time as politicians
Christian Davies in Warsaw
Sun 11 Nov 2018 19.18 GMT
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
-snip-
Nationalists burning flares and carrying fascist flags marched at same time as politicians
Christian Davies in Warsaw
Sun 11 Nov 2018 19.18 GMT
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/poland-far-right-independence-centenary