Marches under the slogan ‘Stop Immigration’ took place across Poland on Saturday, July 19th, including in Bialystok, Krakow, Poznan, Warsaw, and Wroclaw.
More and more Poles are demanding the closure of the borders with Belarus, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. This relates to both the alleged actions of Minsk weaponising releases of migrants into Polish borders as a form of hybrid warfare, and the wider sense that migration has led to a deteriorating crime and security situation within Poland itself.
One of Saturday’s anti-immigration gatherings heard Confederation (Konfederacja) party leadership figure Krzysztof Bosak declare
Without closing Poland to illegal immigration, without launching a deportation operation, without renouncing political correctness, without equipping the Border Guard and the forces responsible for controlling the legality of residence, and without controlling the labour market, security will gradually deteriorate.
After years of raging against the sovereigntist Law and Justice party (PiS) and its lack of ‘European values’ from within Brussels, Polish PM Donald Tusk now attempts to reassure voters that he is protecting borders, with a representative stating
The government is pursuing a responsible and well-considered migration policy, taking care of the stability and security of citizens.
This is unlikely to convince everyone. Despite some leftist counter-demonstrations, for the wider Polish public there is a strong sense that ‘enough is enough’—echoing sentiments elsewhere in Europe. Partial controls introduced by Poland on its borders with Germany and Lithuania, that came into effect on July 7th, have helped to undermine the Schengen project but have done little to placate citizens, who seem increasingly concerned by their overall security situation.
