Warsaw’s annual Independence Day march drew sharply different estimates Wednesday, with city officials counting 250,000 participants and organizers saying about 500,000 attended amid tensions over a deadly Krakow shooting.
Organizers estimated twice the number given by city officials. Reuters reported that the rally’s slogan was “Poles are masters of their own land.” Authorities brought in police from outside Warsaw, set concrete barriers near the march’s starting area and searched nearby streets, Reuters reported.
President Karol Nawrocki walked at the head of the gathering, which extended more than three kilometers, Reuters reported. Marchers carried Polish flags, while some ignited flares despite an official ban. Visitors included foreign nationalists from Spain’s Revuelta youth movement and Hungary’s far-right Mi Hazánk party, Reuters reported.
The march took place amid political tension after a shooting in Krakow’s main square killed six people on Saturday, Reuters reported. Poland’s government initially said the suspect may have been influenced by far-right ideology. National Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Przemyslaw Nowak said investigators had not established what prompted the shooting, while government spokesperson Adam Szlapka called for restraint on Nov. 9. EconoTimes’ earlier report on the unresolved motive covered those official statements.
Rafal Buca, a spokesperson for march organizers, said they opposed politicizing the shooting. He told Reuters the organizers wanted a sovereign Poland “independent of foreign capitals” and “as mono-ethnic as possible.” Participant Pawel Karasnopolski told Reuters he hoped the gathering would express love for Poland rather than add to existing political conflicts.
Speaking in Szczecin, Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for less confrontational debate and urged Poles to keep the common good of independence, freedom and security in mind, Reuters reported. Reuters described a broader political split over the annual rally: right-wing parties see it as patriotic expression, while centrists in government say it has given racism a platform. Reuters also reported that authorities have previously tried to stop the march after violence.
