‘We’re here to stay!’: Poles demonstrate in support of EU membership | Poland

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More than 100,000 Poles demonstrated on Sunday in support of European Union membership after a Polish court ruled that parts of EU law contravene the constitution, raising fears of “political politics”.

Politicians across Europe have expressed their dissatisfaction with Thursday’s ruling by Poland’s Constitutional Court, which has thrown relations between Brussels and Warsaw into crisis.

According to the organizers, protests took place in more than 100 towns and cities across Poland and many cities abroad, with between 80,000 and 100,000 people gathering in the capital, Warsaw alone, waving Polish and European Union flags and chanting “We’re staying!”

Donald Tusk, a former president of the European Council and leader of the main opposition party, Civic Tribune, said the policies of the ruling PiS put Poland’s future in Europe at risk.

Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council and current leader of Poland’s main opposition party, Civic Platform, addresses crowds at Castle Square in Warsaw on Sunday. Photo: Albert Zouadeh/EPA

“We know why they want to leave (the European Union) … so that they can violate democratic rules with impunity,” he said, speaking in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, surrounded by thousands of protesters surrounded by flashing police vans.

PiS says it has no plans for a “Pulexit”.

But right-wing populist governments in Poland and Hungary have found themselves increasingly at odds with the European Commission on issues ranging from LGBT rights to judicial independence.

“Just as Brexit suddenly becomes a reality, something no one expected, the same can happen here,” said Janusz Kuczynski, 59, standing on a street in Warsaw’s historic district leading to the Royal Castle.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki welcomed Thursday’s court ruling, saying that every member state should be treated with respect and the EU should not be just “a group of those who are equal and more equal”.

The state-run TVP station, which critics say is too focused on presenting the government’s view, aired a news tape that read “Protesting the Polish Constitution” during its coverage of Sunday’s events.

Speakers at the demonstrations included politicians from across the opposition, artists and activists.

“This is our Europe and no one will get us out of it,” said 94-year-old Wanda Traczyk Stauska, who took part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi German occupiers.

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