Warsaw police removed a group of anti-fascist protesters, who had attempted to stage a sit-in along the route of a far-right march involving nationalists, and cordons were required throughout the Polish capital to keep apart the two groups.
Several hundred mostly male demonstrators set out across the Polish capital holding national flags, and banners of the National Radical Camp (ONR), to whose 83rd anniversary the march was dedicated.
ONR was a popular far-right movement that sprung up in the volatile inter-war period, and controversy still rages over whether it was fascist, and its ideological links with Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy.
The organization was revived after the fall of communism, by the current demonstrators, who told local media before the rally that they “bear the flame of hope for the revival of the ideals of national Catholic Polish state.”
As the march proceeded, counter-protesters on both sides of the street screamed: “Poland, free from fascism!”
“Death to the enemies of the homeland,” went up a chant from the nationalist marchers in response.
A particularly determined band of anti-fascists holding a banner broke through the police barrier, and sat down in the middle of the road, before being removed by officers who handcuffed them.
“Fascists and the police, you’re in this together,” they chanted, as they were taken away.
According to the police, two people were detained for attacking police officers, but there were no reports of direct clashes, as the nationalists were allowed to complete their march.