Tens of thousands of nationalist sympathisers have gathered in Poland’s capital, Warsaw, for an Independence Day march, days after a mass shooting in Krakow killed six people.
Participants carrying Polish flags assembled in central Warsaw on Wednesday, as police officers were deployed at the scene to secure the demonstration.
The Independence Day march, which has long been a source of tension between right-wing groups and Poland’s governing centrists, has been held annually on November 11 since 1918 to commemorate the end of more than 100 years of partition by Russia, Prussia and Austria.
The annual march has faced criticism for anti-Semitic and anti-immigration rhetoric, while supporters say the gathering, held under the motto “A Pole is the host in Poland”, is an expression of national pride.
Organisers of the march said they expected a record turnout, with many foreign nationalists set to attend, including Spain’s Revuelta, a youth movement linked to Vox, and members of the Hungarian far-right Mi Hazank party.
Poland’s conservative-nationalist President Karol Nawrocki was seen attending the march and has previously participated in both his official capacity and as a private citizen.
Poland “does not exist today so that the political elites can grant themselves the right to manage citizens … against the will of the nation”, Nawrocki said, alluding to the centrist government.
Prior to the march, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk appealed for restraint amid heightened political divisions after ministers said the man who killed six people and wounded more than a dozen in the main square of Krakow on Saturday, November 7 may have been motivated by far-right ideology.
“We may hold different views, we may keep each other in check, and at times we may even be political opponents,” Tusk said. “Anyone who truly cares about Poland must understand that this space, defined by independence, freedom and a secure Republic, is a common good.”
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said the killer had been interested in the neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
On Monday, the police announced that the 24-year-old gunman died at a hospital after he was shot by police officers and arrested on Saturday when he opened fire from his car.
