Poland’s president joins thousands at Independence March

President Karol Nawrocki walked with thousands of people in Warsaw’s Independence March on 11 November, while Prime Minister Donald Tusk attended a smaller celebration in Szczecin.

The events marked the 108th anniversary of Poland regaining independence in 1918.

The Warsaw march

The annual march has drawn nationalist and far-right groups from Poland and abroad and has seen violent clashes in the past. It has also attracted more conservative Poles in recent years, becoming the country’s largest mass Independence Day celebration, The Guardian said. Organizers had hoped for up to 500,000 participants; the observed attendance was in the thousands.

Organizers described the gathering, held under the motto “A Pole is the host in Poland,” as an expression of national pride. Their spokesperson Rafał Buca said they wanted a Poland independent of foreign capitals and as monoethnic as possible.

Tusk’s separate celebration

Tusk, who is regularly targeted by chants and banners at the Warsaw march, addressed people there as well as those at the Szczecin event. He said independence, freedom and a secure republic were a common good, even for people with different views or political opponents.