Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of the capital carrying Polish flags to voice their opposition to illegal immigration and Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition government.
Jarosław Kaczynski, the event’s main organizer and chairman of Law and Justice, spoke at a rally before the protests began and urged participants not to trust the prime minister’s words, calling them an “old game”.
“We said there would be no transfers of migrants in Poland, but in reality there will be none! This is an agreement: we will close the border wall with Belarus, and Belarus is the most heavily guarded border in Europe today. We will strengthen visa and refugee laws. And Poland is an example for other countries. We are not talking, we are doing!” The Prime Minister wrote of X before the rally:
Just a few hours later, Kaczynski responded in a match.
“Today, Donald Tusk, who until recently said that Poland would be punished by the fact that our government (Law and Justice) was able to guarantee that this agreement did not come into force at that time (…) today suddenly announced that next year (Poland) will not accept migrants,” Kaczynski said.
“Don’t be fooled, these are old games,” he added.
Kaczynski called for an end to the Tusk government.
“We must remove Mr. Tusk and leave with Mr. Tusk. We must rebuild everything this government has succeeded in destroying,” Kaczynski told a crowd of demonstrators.
The rally was also attended by several other Law and Justice politicians, including former Prime Ministers Beata Szydło and Mateusz Morawiecki, and former Defense Ministry Secretary Mausz Blaszczak.
In his speech at the rally, Mr. Szydwo called for unity among conservative society and took issue with the prime minister’s words.
“We have to come together as a white and red team, and we have to invite those who know what is happening in Poland and are worried about their future,” Szydło said.
“Today is a time when we must come together. We may not believe Mr. Tusk, but we also cannot believe the rulers of the European Union,” she added.
“It’s as if we believe Chancellor Angela Merkel when she said when she brought this disaster to Europe that everything was under control,” he asked the assembled participants if they thought Poland was not bound by the migration deal.