Thousands of demonstrators waving Polish flags invaded central Warsaw on Thursday for the annual Independence Day march organized at the call of the far right, with the support of the nationalist government.
The large central square of the capital, on which patriotic songs resounded thanks to a powerful sound system, was covered with red and white smoke - the national colors -, while firecrackers and other smoke devices were launched from the start. start of this parade.
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The city center was invested Thursday by an imposing police device protecting the march, with armored vehicles, roadblocks and agents armed to the teeth.
Several main arteries have been closed to traffic.
"God, Honor and Fatherland"
It must be said that this demonstration has in the past often given rise to clashes with the police.
The liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, once again tried this year to ban this gathering, on the strength of court decisions which proved him right, but, at the last moment, the government declared this parade a “
state demonstration
”.
".
Besides the traditional "
God, Honor and Fatherland
", the slogan of the march is that "
independence is not for sale
", at a time when Poland and the European Union clash over reforms. controversial judicial decisions adopted by the party in power, Law and Justice (PiS), and where tens of billions of euros planned for this country are at stake as part of the European stimulus funds.
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Brussels has not yet given the green light to their payment due to a standoff with Warsaw over respect for the rule of law.
Poland had regained its independence on November 11, 1918 after 123 years of partition between Czarist Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.