60,000 join far-right rally as Poland marks big day

March one of many events marking Poland’s rebirth as a nation in 1918

Tens of thousands of nationalists marched in a demonstration organized by far-right groups in Warsaw on Saturday, as Poles celebrated their country’s Independence Day.

The far-right march was one of many events marking Poland’s rebirth as a nation in 1918 after being wiped off the map for 123 years. Earlier in the day, President Andrzej Duda presided over state ceremonies also attended by European Union president Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister.

But the march has become the largest Independence Day event in recent years, overshadowing official state observances and other patriotic events. Some participants expressed sympathy for xenophobic or white supremacist ideas, with one banner reading, “White Europe of brotherly nations.” Participants marched under the slogan “We Want God,” words from an old Polish religious song that President Donald Trump quoted during a visit to Warsaw earlier this year.