It is hard to tackle the problem of extreme nationalists in Poland as Warsaw is toeing the EU and pro-US line in its policies instead of trying to get things in the country in order, political analyst Aleksandr Pavic told RT.
About 300 far-right protesters were arrested after clashing with the police in Warsaw Tuesday, as a thousand-strong annual march marking National Independence Day turned violent for the fourth year in a row. Demonstrators were throwing flares and stones at police officers, who responded with water cannon.
READ MORE:Over 270 arrests as Warsaw nationalist march ends in clashes, flares, water cannon
RT:It's the fourth year in a row that this nationalist rally has turned violent in Warsaw. What's provoking them?
Political scientist Mateusz Piskorsky on nationalist march in Poland: “The issue is that they seem to try to follow the example of Hungary and the example of Jobbik, the Movement for a Better Hungary, which had relative political success after organizing several thousand people on the streets of Budapest some years ago, they have entered the parliament. But one has to understand that in Poland conditions are totally different and there are no such political opportunities for them. They have already participated in elections. The movement was called the National Movement and they got just around one percent. So the only possibility for them to gather and mobilize forces is Independence Day.”
Aleksandr Pavic: This is a part of a larger trend, it’s not specific to just Poland. We are seeing this sort of nationalist trend in all of Europe, especially the EU countries. And it’s really a reaction to the present state of the EU – it’s the long economic recession, the increasing power of Brussels bureaucracy which is trying to expand its power at the expense of states and European nations. What is happening in Poland maybe is a little bit more violent today, but again, we had similarly violent demonstrations in Brussels just the other day. So really this is just a trend and the EU, especially the EU bureaucracy should have a lot to worry about.
RT:How big is the far right problem in Poland? What should the authorities be doing to tackle it?
AP: It’s very hard to do. Poland’s authorities are toeing the EU line; they are also toeing pro-US line. What this is, it is globalist politics, this is politics at the expense of nation-states. Poland itself is a kind of hostage to this sort of policy that they have chosen once they have joined the EU. What they could really do to satisfy nationalists - just like any other European nation-state - is to try to get its house in order without receiving orders from abroad, from a faceless bureaucracy which is not accountable to any voters. Of course we are not seeing a trend toward that in Poland. On the contrary, we are seeing more power being handed over to bureaucracy that is outside of the state.
RT:What has been done to crack down the far-right forces?
AP: The problem is that both Brussels and Washington are trying to use far-right and extreme nationalists to make them instruments of policy. Right now the target is Russia. They have revived the extreme nationalism in Ukraine with the help of Poland, with the help of Polish authorities. It sounds like a paradox but it’s not – it’s Brussels, Washington that are fomenting extreme nationalism and they are trying to point it toward the East so as to deflect the real target to which it should be pointed which is more toward the West.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.