The Daily Populous Sunday July 20th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by euronews.com and submitted by riverdale-74

Anti-immigration protests organised by the far-right Confederation Libery and Independence party took place in more than 80 cities across Poland, including in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, and Bialystok.

Demonstrators demanded the closure of the borders with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia.

"Enough of the years-long policy of 'let everyone in, and who they are will be determined later'," Krzysztof Bosak, one of Confederation party's leaders, wrote on X.

"Polish women and men have the right to be concerned about the level of security in their own homeland," he added.

In a speech at the start of the march, Bosak demanded the resignation of Donald Tusk's government, the closure of the borders with Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Slovakia to curb illegal immigration, and the permission for soldiers to shoot at people who cross the border illegally.

"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," he said, calling for a change in policy.

Supporters of Polish far-right Confederation party and football hooligans take part in a anti-immigration demonstration in Warsaw Saturday, 19 July, 2025. AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

The protests come shortly after Poland introduced border controls with Germany and Lithuania, which came into effect on 7 July.

On the Polish-German border, controls are in place at 52 places and on the Polish-Lithuanian border at 13.

The issue of migration has been widely up for debate, and a contentious topic in Polish politics, particularly as the country has experienced a rise in immigration in recent years.

In the first round of the presidential elections held in May, candidates of the far-right performed well, with Slawomir Mentzen of the Confederation Libery and Independence party and Grzegorz Braun of Confederation of the Polish Crown party coming in third and fourth, respectively.

Many believe that both candidates' successes were due to their hardline stance on migration.

Supporters of Polish far-right Confederation party take part in a anti-immigration demonstration in Warsaw Saturday, July 19, 2025. AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

Interior ministers agree on asylum rules

On Friday, Poland and five other EU countries, agreed a set of targets for tightening asylum rules. During the meeting hosted by Germany's interior minister, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted that he was "pleased that Poland is carrying out border controls."

Last year, Poland saw an increase in asylum applications due to the recurring crisis on its eastern border with Belarus, which has been ongoing since 2021.

As a result, the Polish parliament passed a law temporarily suspending the right to apply for asylum for those who crossed the Belarusian border.

Both Polish and European leaders have long accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating the influx of migrants to destabilise the EU.

On Saturday morning, the Ministry of Interior and Administration published statistics on the number of approvals issued for special protection for foreigners on X.

"In 2024, we issued 40 per cent fewer approvals for special protection for foreigners than in 2021. This is the result of a better managed system, our operations at the border and more efficient procedures," the post read.

"The government is pursuing a responsible and well-considered migration policy, taking care of the stability and security of citizens," it added.

Counter-manifestations against the Confederation marches were also held in Warsaw, Katowice, Olsztyn and other cities on Saturday.

Demonstrators carried banners with the slogans: "Accept the refugees, delete the fascists," "Action Democracy" and "We defend the right to asylum."

Police try to separate and secure a small group of counter-demonstrators trying to block the anti-immigration demonstration in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, July 19, 2025. AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski

"Everyone, regardless of their skin colour and origin, should feel comfortable not only in Poland, but also in Europe," Maria Książak of the International Humanitarian Initiative Foundation said during the demonstration.

Appropriate_Kiwi_995 on July 20th, 2025 at 09:57 UTC »

I'm Polish and basically everyone I know has some family that emigrated to Germany, UK or Ireland. I personally know a couple of people that traveled to the USA and stayed there after their visa expired, so they are illegal immigrants now. But apparently that's ok (according to my conservative acquaintances) because they were just looking for a better life.

But if it's people from other countries coming to Poland, that's apparently bad...

QuarterTarget on July 20th, 2025 at 09:51 UTC »

We barely have any non-european migration in Poland (same levels as during the right wing government), and yet if you were to watch all the channels targetting old people, you'd think warsaw is 90% Somalis. It's insane. At least anti migration politicians in France actually have the migrants they are fearmongering about. To the point a picture of one brown guy sitting at a bus stop will become viral on Facebook and will be used to prove poland has fallen XD

Edit: we aren't letting millions of people, and nobody is planning to. What we have is such a small influx of people, the majority of whom are working regular people on work or student visas. If the rest of Europe had the same immigration rates as us, there wouldn't be an issue with immigration. It's standard natural flow that is expected as the economy grows and birth rates sink, but for the right wing, any amount of immigration is mass immigration of invaders.

foghillgal on July 20th, 2025 at 09:10 UTC »

Considering Polish immigration in the Uk was used during Brexit it’s very ironic .