Thousands of far right protesters attending Poland’s 102nd Independence Day March in Warsaw clashed with the police at several locations.

Over the past few years, the march – a commemoration of the reunification of Poland in 1918 after more than a century of partition – has turned into a massive far-right demonstration. Under the slogan, “Our civilisation, our principles”, far right sympathisers marched sporting racist symbols and waving banners reading slogans such as “No to Jewish demands”. The march also attended by parliamentarians of the far-right Confederation alliance.

Because of the ongoing pandemic, Warsaw city authorities had refused to authorise the march this year and the police had expressed reluctance to deal with this event, with many officers saying they intended to take sick leave.