WARSAW: Thousands of Poles took to the streets of Warsaw on Saturday to march against illegal immigration and European migration policy, according to AFP journalists.
Under heavy rain, protesters heeded a call from the main opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), which backs nationalist President Karol Nawrocki.
Supporters gathered at Castle Square at 2:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT) in the city’s Old Town, with many arriving by bus from across the country, waving Polish flags.
“I see what is happening in the West. I have two children who live in Germany, and I see the danger there and its impact on German identity. Germans now feel like minorities in their own country,” a 64-year-old retiree told AFP.
A large majority of the country, including supporters of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU governing coalition, favors the tightening of migration policy and a tougher stance on Ukrainian refugees, according to opinion polls.
Nawrocki and Tusk’s government are divided on immigration, foreign policy and support for Ukraine.
Nawrocki and the PiS party have repeatedly criticized the European Union’s migration pact, adopted last year and set to come into force in June 2026.
Under the agreement, member states would either be required to take in thousands of migrants from “frontline” countries or provide additional funding instead.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week, Nawrocki said Poland, which has welcomed more than one million Ukrainian refugees since Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022, had done its part.
“The overwhelming majority of Poles, from all political leanings, oppose the forced relocation of migrants to Poland,” he wrote.
“I will not consent to the implementation of the Migration and Asylum Pact in Poland,” he added.
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Thousands rally in Warsaw against migrant policies
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Thousands rally in Warsaw against migrant policies
- Under heavy rain, protesters heeded a call from the main opposition Law and Justice party
- Nawrocki and Tusk’s government are divided on immigration, foreign policy and support for Ukraine
Emails to Chinese dancers allegedly threatened Australian PM
SYDNEY: A security scare at the Australian prime minister’s residence this week was sparked by a bomb threat against an anti-Beijing Chinese dance troupe, the act’s hosts said Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate his official residence in Canberra, The Lodge, on Tuesday over an unspecified “alleged security incident.”
Police said at the time that they found nothing suspicious in their search and declared there was no threat to the public, without saying what sparked the incident.
“We made the report to the national security agencies, including police,” Lucy Zhao, president of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia and host to the Shen Yun dance group, told AFP.
“We have to take it seriously.”
An email threat was sent two days earlier seeking to stop a performance in Australia by the New York-based dance group which is linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, also known as Falun Dafa.
A copy of the Chinese-language email provided to AFP said “large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives” had been placed in the prime minister’s residence.
“If the Shen Yun performance proceeds anyway, the prime minister’s residence will be blown into bloody ruins,” the email warned.
Zhao accused China’s Communist Party of seeking to stop performances by Shen Yun internationally, including by sending threats.
China banned Falun Gong, which it calls an “evil cult,” in 1999 after 10,000 members peacefully demonstrated outside a government building in Beijing.
In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters this week that it was not aware of the facts behind the security incident.
“China has always opposed various acts of violence,” the spokesperson said.
“It must be pointed out that the so-called Shen Yun performances are not any kind of normal cultural activity, but is a political tool used by the Falun Gong organization to spread cult information and accumulate wealth.”
Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in China, according to a January 2024 European Parliament resolution.
Despite being banned in China, it has found a global audience with Shen Yun performances around the world generating revenues of $46 million in 2022 alone, according to the ProPublica investigative news site.
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