(Bloomberg) -- Polish politicians squabbled over how to mark the 100th anniversary of the country's independence amid fears the event will be hijacked by far-right groups who drew international condemnation for racism at a similar rally last year.
At the vanguard of populist movements challenging the European Union's liberal and multi-cultural values, Poland has attracted scrutiny under the leadership of the nationalist Law & Justice party. It has clashed with allies over issues including the rule of law and its policy toward migrants, while critics claim the government is cuddling the far-right.
Premier Mateusz Morawiecki said the government would be “as decisive as it gets” to tame extremist behavior at the march. “There's a clear line between patriotic behavior and nationalist, fringe neo-Nazi activities,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, whose party is in opposition to the national government, on Wednesday outlawed a march planned by nationalist groups for Nov. 11, saying it would jeopardize security. President Andrzej Duda later announced he would lead a new march with Morawiecki, which will take place at the same time and place as the banned rally, inviting “all Poles” to join in under the country's red-and-white flags.
Organizers from nationalist groups said on Facebook they would meet on Sunday in Warsaw.
In 2017, in what Morawiecki has called a “provocation” carried out with the help of foreigners, some protesters in a crowd of 60,000 people shouted xenophobic slogans and carried banners saying “Pure Blood” and “Europe will be white or uninhabited.”
Government officials didn't attend that rally, but Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak called it “a beautiful sight” at the time. After the march become global news, the government complained of the country's “image problem” and accused the media of focusing on “fringe incidents."
No Arrests
A year later, still no arrests have been made for racist behavior at the rally. The mayor's ban follows a dispute between the government and the police, with as many as 20 percent of the country's officers currently on medical leave in a dispute over pay.
“Security comes first and, given the recent problems with the police, it's hard to believe it's capable of ensuring security,” Gronkiewicz-Waltz said. “Poland and Warsaw have suffered enough from aggressive nationalism. This is not how the centenary of our independence should look.”
Last year's gathering saw some protesters waving the green-and-white flags of Falanga, a Polish nationalist group from the 1920s and 1930s that advocated "Catholic totalitarianism" and stripping Jews of their rights.
--With assistance from Wojciech Moskwa.
To contact the reporters on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net;Maciej Martewicz in Warsaw at mmartewicz@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Wojciech Moskwa
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