Nationalists clash with police in Wrocław after far-right march called off due to antisemitism

The city authorities in Wrocław ordered a far-right Independence Day march to be called off due to antisemitic chants and the use of flares. Some participants, however, refused to disperse, and have been attacking the police.

Warsaw’s larger Independence March, which is also organised by the far right, draws the most attention (though it passed with little controversy today). But nationalists in Wrocław also hold an annual event that attracts thousands of participants.

Last year’s march was dissolved by the city authorities after bystanders were injured by bottles, firecrackers and flares. Mayor Jacek Sutryk warned that the same would happen this year if violence or hate speech occurred.

Within 15 minutes of the the march setting off at 7 p.m. this evening, police had issued four warnings to participants due to antisemitic chants and the use of flares, reports local newspaper Gazeta Wrocławska. After the warnings were ignored, the event was ordered to be called off.

However, nationalist leader Jacek Międlar – a priest suspended by the Catholic Church and who has been banned from entering the UK – shouted “you won’t stop us”. Marchers threw flares, bottles and stones at the police, reports Wirtualna Polska.

Police then responded by using water cannons and tear gas in an attempt to control the crowd. As of 9 p.m., the latest reports indicate that a stand-off is still in progress. Three police officers and two bystanders have been injured, says a spokesman for Wrocław police.

The nationalist march in Wrocław is one of the biggest in Poland, drawing over 9,000 participants last year. Międlar has regularly spoken at the event. At the 2016 march, he called for “patriots” to “defeat leftism, Jewishness and communism”, as otherwise “Poland [could] once again be destroyed by Talmudic Jews”.

In March, another procession in Wrocław led by Międlar was called off after participants shouted “Down with Jewish occupation” and other antisemitic slogans. Last year, Międlar was sentenced to six months of community service for suggesting that liberal MP Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus deserved “the razor”.

Main image credit: Krzysztof Cwik/Agencja Gazeta

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.