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Demonstrations organized by the far -right party Confederation took place in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Bialystok and other cities. The demonstrators asked for the closure of borders with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia with illegal immigration.
It is enough of this policy which has lasted for years and which consists in “letting everyone enter, we will see later who it is”. – Krzysztof Bosak, one of the managers of the Confederation, wrote on the platform X.
“Poles and Poles have the right to worry about the level of security in their own homeland”. -He added.
In a speech delivered at the start of the march, Mr. Bosak asked for the resignation of the government of Donald Tusk, the closure of borders with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia to illegal immigration and authorization for soldiers to shoot people illegally crossing the border.
“Without closing Poland to illegal immigration, without launching an expulsion operation, without giving up politically correct, without modernizing border guards and the forces responsible for controlling the legality of the stay and without controlling the labor market, security will gradually deteriorate,” he said. -He said.
“This policy must change,” he added: “This policy must change”.
Tensions increase due to migration policy
As in most EU countries, immigration is one of the most controversial political subjects in Poland. The march of the Confederations took place shortly after Poland introduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania, which entered into force on July 7.
On the German-Polish border, the controls are in place in 52 places and on the Polish-Lithuanian border in 13 places.
During the first round of the May presidential elections, the far -right candidates, including Slawomir Mentzen of the Confederation and Grzegorz Braun of the Polish Crown Confederation, arrived in third and fourth position respectively. Many people think that the successes of these two candidates are due to their uncompromising position on immigration.
Friday, Poland and five other EU countries agreed on a series of objectives aimed at strengthening the rules in terms of asylum. During the meeting, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted that he was “happy that Poland performs border controls”.
Last year, Poland experienced an increase in asylum requests due to the recurring crisis at its eastern border with Belarus, which has been going on since 2021.
Consequently, the Polish parliament has adopted a law temporarily suspending the right to request asylum for people who crossed the border with Belarus.
Polish and European leaders have long been accusing Biélorusian President Alexandre Loukachenko of orchestrating the influx of migrants to destabilize the EU.
Counter-demonstrations in many cities
Counterators against the Confederation’s marches also took place in Warsaw, Katowice, Olsztyn and in other cities on Saturday.
The demonstrators wore banners with the following slogans: “Accept refugees – delete the fascists”: “Accept refugees – remove the fascists”, “Action Democracy”, “We defend the right of asylum”.
“Everyone, whatever the color of their skin and its origin, should feel comfortable not only in Poland, but also in Europe,” said Maria Ksiąąą. – said Maria Książak, of the International Humanitarian Initiative Foundation, during the demonstration.
On Saturday morning, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration published on the X platform statistics on the number of approvals issued for the special protection of foreigners.
“In 2024, we delivered 40 % of fewer special protection permits for foreigners than in 2021. It is the result of a better -managed system, our border operations and more effective procedures”. – writes the Ministry of the Interior in a message published on his account.
“The government is pursuing a responsible and thoughtful migration policy, ensuring the stability and security of citizens,” he added.
