Poland’s defence ministry and state broadcaster TVP will this weekend hold a concert to show support for troops defending the eastern border, where tens of thousands of mostly Middle Eastern migrants have been seeking to cross from Belarus.
As well as a number of domestic stars, the event will also feature international performers including Spanish girl group Las Ketchup – famous for their 2002 hit “The Ketchup Song” – and German singer Lou Bega, best known for “Mambo No. 5”.
The concert, titled “Murem za polskim mundurem” (roughly: Support for the Polish uniformed services), will take place on Sunday at an air base in the town of Mińsk Mazowiecki, around 40 kilometres to the east of Warsaw.
It will be broadcast on the main channel of TVP, which, like other state media, is under government influence. The “great concert of support for the defenders of the Polish borders” will feature “European stars”, declared TVP’s CEO, Jacek Kurski.
As well as Las Ketchup and Lou Bega, performers at the event include No Mercy (known for 1996 hit “Where Do You Go?), Loona, German Eurodance project Captain Jack (known for their eponymous 1995 single), and former Ace of Base lead singer Jenny Berggren.
The concert will also feature “undisputed stars of the Polish stage”, including Edyta Górniak, Jan Pietrzak, Halina Frąckowiak and Viki Gabor, says TVP. Gabor is known to international audiences as the winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.
One opposition MP, however, was left unimpressed by the plans, noting that a number of migrants and refugees have died at the border while trying to cross in increasingly harsh weather conditions. Human Rights Watch recently accused both Poland and Belarus of “abusing” migrants.
“A concert when people are dying at the border,” tweeted Maciej Gdula of The Left. “Only Jacek Kurski could come up with something like that.”
Koncert, gdy ludzie umierają na granicy. Coś takiego mógł wymyślić tylko Jacek Kurski.
— Maciej Gdula (@m_gdula) November 19, 2021
Main image credit: SEBASTIAN RZEPIEL / AGENCJA GAZETA
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.
