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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), today held a demonstration in Warsaw to protest against the EU’s migration pact and its proposed trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc.
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński accused the current government of seeking to turn Poland into a “German protectorate” and called for Prime Minister Donald Tusk to be removed. Tusk, however, declared the event to have been a “fiasco” due to its low attendance.
🇵🇱 Dziękuję, że byliście z nami na wielkim patriotycznym wiecu dziś w Warszawie. Wszystkie przemówienia, które usłyszeliśmy prowadzą Polaków ku jednej decyzji: Precz z tym rządem, precz z Tuskiem! Niech żyje Polska! – Prezes PiS J. Kaczyński @OficjalnyJK 🔥 #wObroniePolski… pic.twitter.com/ZnJt2NisZ3
— Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (@pisorgpl) October 11, 2025
As far back as July, Kaczyński announced that his party would hold a demonstration against illegal immigration in Warsaw on 11 October. He appealed to “all patriotic forces to attend”.
Later, it was announced that the event would also express opposition to the proposed EU-Mercosur trade deal, which has faced strong opposition in Poland – including from Tusk’s government – because of fears that a resultant influx of South American agricultural products will negatively impact Polish farmers.
Thousands of people gathered on Warsaw’s Castle Square this afternoon for event, titled “Stop illegal migration! Stop the Mercosur deal!” Many waved Polish flags and some wore caps saying “Make Poland Great Again” in an adaptation of Donald Trump’s famous slogan.
A screenshot from a live feed of Castle Square, ten minutes before the PiS demonstration began
“This is a demonstration against illegal immigration, against the migration pact, against all these actions that are intended to bring misfortune to Poland,” said Kaczyński during his speech to the crowd.
Most of his criticism, however, was focused not directly on the EU but on Tusk’s government, which he accused of leading Poland “towards a very serious crisis or perhaps even the complete destruction of the Polish state as a sovereign state”.
Tusk wants to turn Poland into a “German protectorate”, claimed Kaczyński. “We must dismiss Tusk…[and] rebuild everything this government has managed to destroy.”
PiS deputy leader and former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, meanwhile, warned that the Mercosur agreement would “mean poverty for the Polish farmer”. He accused the government of “doing nothing to block it”.
Kaczyński also warned Poles “not to be fooled” by Tusk’s claims that his government is combating immigration, including today’s announcement that it has secured an exemption for Poland from the EU’s planned system for relocating migrants between member states.
Ahead of today’s event, Tusk had pointed out that it was actually under PiS’s government between 2015 and 2023 that Poland experienced its highest ever levels of immigration. The current government has moved to cut those numbers.
“Only Jarosław Kaczyński is capable of attracting a record number of migrants to Poland and then calling for a protest against migration,” wrote Tusk.
After the event had wrapped up, Tusk declared it to have been a “fiasco”, writing that Kaczyński is “better at attracting migrants than protesters”.
Fiasko “wielkiego marszu” Kaczyńskiego. Lepiej ci szło ściąganie migrantów niż manifestantów, prezesie.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) October 11, 2025
Meanwhile, Sławomir Mentzen, one of the leaders of the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja), another opposition party, declared that neither Tusk nor Kaczyński can be trusted on this issue.
“PiS demonstrating against immigration is as credible as Tusk boasting about the [anti-migrant] barrier on the border with Belarus,” wrote Mentzen. “On both issues, Tusk and Kaczyński are as bad as each other. Maybe that’s why so few people showed up [for today’s PiS protest]?”
His party displayed a banner at the event saying “the PiS government issued 366,000 visas to immigrants from Africa and Asia”.
Jednak pojawiliśmy się na manifestacji PiS przeciwko imigracji 🙂
PiS manifestujący przeciwko imigracji jest tak wiarygodny, jak Tusk chwalący się zaporą na granicy z Białorusią.
W obu tematach Tusk z Kaczyńskim są siebie warci.
Może dlatego przyszło tak mało ludzi? pic.twitter.com/KdeW6ZbMUh
— Sławomir Mentzen (@SlawomirMentzen) October 11, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
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.
