Tens of thousands join Poland’s nationalist Independence Day march

Tens of thousands of nationalist sympathisers joined Poland’s annual Independence Day march in Warsaw, amid heightened political tensions following a mass shooting in Krakow. The event matters because it has become a focus of conflict between right-wing groups and the centrist government, with debate over whether it expresses national pride or promotes exclusionary views.

Participants carried Polish flags under the motto “A Pole is the host in Poland”, while police secured the demonstration. Organisers anticipated a record turnout, including foreign far-right groups; President Karol Nawrocki attended and criticised the political elite. Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged restraint after ministers said the 24-year-old gunman who killed six people and wounded more than a dozen in Krakow may have been influenced by far-right ideology.