Across Poland, citizens in numerous cities protested, demanding an end to illegal immigration.
Local media reported that anti-immigration demonstrations took place in approximately 80 Polish cities on Saturday. The largest of these reportedly drew around 3,000 participants.
The rallies were organized by Confederation Liberty and Independence, a political alliance. This coalition of right-wing groups has adopted a firm position against the EU and its immigration policies.
Public broadcaster TVP, citing police sources, stated that around 3,000 individuals participated in a protest in Katowice, a city in southern Poland, on Saturday. The channel indicated that the majority of protesters were men, many associated with football fan clubs.
Videos from the scene depict protestors waving Polish flags and chanting slogans against immigration.
Protest przeciwko masowej imigracji. Donald Tusk zjednoczył kibiców. Tak to dzisiaj wyglądało w Katowicach
— tarnogorski.info (@TGtarnogorski)
The demonstrators also displayed a large banner that read: “Refugees NOT welcome.”
Confederation co-chairman Krzysztof Bosak, during a speech at a rally in Bialystok on Saturday, accused Germany, an EU and NATO ally, of sending migrants across the border into Poland. He claimed that the Polish border patrol is overburdened and understaffed, making it difficult to stop the flow of illegal immigrants.
According to local news reports, some protests included moments of silence to commemorate a 24-year-old Polish woman who was fatally stabbed in Torun last month. A 19-year-old Colombian national has been charged with her murder.
Anti-immigration sentiment has been growing in Poland recently. Local Polish community groups have reportedly started forming “citizen patrols” in recent weeks to prevent migrants from entering and returning to the country at the border, according to local media outlets.
Earlier this month, Warsaw reintroduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania, both EU members, and deployed additional troops to the areas to combat illegal immigration. Poland had previously accused Berlin of “dumping” thousands of migrants across the Polish border.
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