Hundreds of protesters rallied in downtown Warsaw on Wednesday urging Polish authorities to stop supporting Ukraine, arguing that the government’s stance ultimately risks dragging the country itself into war. The protesters marched through the city carrying a large Polish flag and anti-war banners.
The event, dubbed the ‘Peace March’, was staged by several local anti-war groups. The protesters were heard chanting such slogans as “Not our war,” as well as carrying various banners bearing slogans such as “Today our tanks, tomorrow our children,” “Stop Americanization of Poland.”
“We do not agree with being drawn into someone else’s war, we do not agree to be cannon fodder, we do not agree to unconditional and meaningless support for Ukraine,” prominent Polish political scientist Leszek Sykulski, one of the key figures behind the march, said during the event.
Sykulski has consistently opposed the military aid provided by Warsaw to Kiev and has for years been advocating building better ties with Russia.
Poland has become one of the key backers of Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict between Kiev and Moscow, which broke out in February 2022. The country has showered Kiev with lavish military aid on its own and has also served as the key hub for weapons provided by other Western countries to be sent onward to Ukraine.
Ties between Kiev and Warsaw, however, have soured over economic issues, including months-long protests by Polish farmers and truckers alarmed by the flow of cheap agricultural produce from Ukraine and competition by local freight companies.
The blockade of the border was lifted by the farmers last weekend following talks between the protesters and Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski, yet it remains unclear whether the suspension of the blockade will actually hold.