Poland marks 100 years since rebirth

Poland’s president, prime minister and other top political figures led an Independence Day march yesterday as part of a day of centenary celebrations, trailed by a huge crowd led by nationalist groups.

Some 200,000 people marched in Warsaw to mark the 100th anniversary of Poland’s rebirth as an independent state, according to an initial police estimate.

President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the leader of the conservative ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, walked in a crowd fronted by soldiers carrying a huge flag with the words “For You Poland”.

Walking a small distance behind them was another crowd of nationalists and their supporters, many of them burning firecrackers and flares, creating flashes of red light and smoke.