Far-right nationalists congregate on Polish Independence day
WARSAW, Poland — Tens of thousands of far-right nationalists, burning flares and carrying Polish flags, marched peacefully through the streets of Warsaw on Friday to mark Poland’s Independence Day.
In a yearly ritual that has become one of the largest far-right gatherings in Europe, they marched under the slogan “Poland the Bastion of Europe.”
The nationalists are strongly opposed to accepting refugees from the Middle East. Some of them carried banners depicting a falanga, which is a far-right symbol dating to the 1930s of a stylized hand with a sword.
The Interior Ministry estimated that 75,000 people joined the march, while Warsaw town hall estimated the number at 60,000. It proceeded peacefully, in contrast to violence of several marches in the past.