Poland’s president and prime minister both called for national unity on Polish Independence Day on Tuesday in speeches, made in different parts of the country, that reflected political divisions between the country’s conservative head of state and its centrist premier.
November 11 is a national holiday in Poland that celebrates the country’s rebirth as an independent state in 1918. But bridging the political and societal divides in Poland has proved a struggle, even on this day.
Emblematic of this failure is the annual Independence Day March that makes its way through the capital’s streets on November 11.
Organized by eurosceptic and nationalist groupings, for many liberal Poles it is seen as an unwanted manifestation of far-right politics while those taking part in it regard it is a symbol of patriotism.
‘Poland first’
Speaking at a state ceremony by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, President Karol Nawrocki said that a “free, independent and sovereign Poland is our obligation,” describing himself as a supporter of Poland’s EU membership — “but one who says: first and foremost Poland, first and foremost Poles.”
The Independence Day event was the first that Nawrocki, a nationalist often at odds with Donald Tusk’s government, attended after winning this year’s presidential election.
In a speech that mixed patriotic and social themes, Nawrocki said: “Poland is free and independent. It is no longer a colony,” adding that independence must also mean social justice.
He concluded his speech with an appeal for unity, saying he “deeply believes there will be more things that unite us than those that divide us,” and ending with the words: “God bless Poland. Long live Poland.”
Right-wing leaders attend Warsaw march
Nawrocki, an amateur boxer who took part in a hooligan fight in 2009, later joined Warsaw’s annual Independence March, which in previous years has seen violence break out.
He was accompanied by key figures from the right-wing opposition Law and Justice, the party that backed his presidential bid and with which he is widely seen as politically aligned.
Nawrocki’s presence at the march underscored how it and the far-right politics it represents have been absorbed into mainstream Independence Day commemorations.
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also took part in the march. So did Krzysztof Bosak, one of the leaders of the far-right opposition Confederation party.
Disputed turnout
Jarosław Misztal, director of the Warsaw Security Centre, a municipal body that monitors major public events and mass gatherings in the Polish capital, said that around 100,000 people took part in the rally.
The organizers, meanwhile, put the number at 300,000.
Misztal said the march proceeded “without major incidents” and described this year’s event as one of the calmest, apart from the use of banned pyrotechnics.
Only one incident was reported throughout the day, he added, when a participant of a left-wing counter march threw a flare onto the stairs of the United States consulate.
No damage was reported and police are working to identify the individual involved, Misztal told state news agency PAP.
Left-leaning groups hold counter-marches on Independence Day, arguing that the main march in Warsaw has taken on an ultra-nationalist character.
No ‘monopoly’ on patriotism
Meanwhile, speaking in the Baltic port city of Gdańsk, Prime Minister Tusk praised the “miracle of unification” that allowed Poland to be rebuilt in 1918 after over 120 years under the rule of three empires.
“The greatest miracle was that Poles were able to unite,” he said.
“No one has a monopoly on patriotism. We are a community whenever we are united,” Tusk added, in an apparent reference to the prominent presence of the far-right during Independence Day events.
Tusk said Poland had become “a safe country where free Poles live,” noting its economic progress and growing military power, and support for Ukraine.
“Poland has become a regional leader,” he added.
President vs government
Despite their parallel appeals for unity, Nawrocki and Tusk remain at odds.
In an interview with newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, published ahead of the holiday, Tusk said the president “is not interested in any relationship with me” and “consciously devastates even the minimal space for cooperation.”
Tusk accused Nawrocki of using his veto power to block key government initiatives.
He added that he still hoped for “good cooperation with the presidency as an institution,” but said Nawrocki’s actions were hurting the Polish state interest.