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Far-right politics in Poland

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Like in other nations across the world, there are several far-right (Polish: skrajna prawica) organizations and parties operating in Poland.

National Revival of Poland demonstration led by Catholic-sedevacantist priest Rafał Trytek

History and ideology

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Past

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An important element of Polish nationalism has been its identification with the Roman Catholic religion with its roots in the Counter-Reformation of the 17th century, and one that became established clearly in the interwar period.[1][2][3][4] Although the old Commonwealth was religiously diverse and highly tolerant,[5] the Roman Catholic religious element with messianic undertones (the Christ of Nations) became one of the defining characteristics of the modern Polish identity.[6][7][8] Roman Dmowski, a Polish politician of that era, was vital in defining that concept, and has been called the "father of Polish nationalism."[9][10][11] Dmowski was the leader of National Democracy. After his death, more radically inclined youth broke off and created the National Radical Camp.

Modern

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Following the collapse of a communist system in the country, the far-right ideology became visible. The pan-Slavic and neopagan Polish National Union (PWN-PSN) political party at its peak was one of the larger groups active in the early 1990s, numbering then some 4,000 members and making international headlines for its anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism. The National Revival of Poland being a marginal political party, under the leadership of Adam Gmurczyk, operates since the late 1980s. It is a member of European National Front and a co-founder of International Third Position. The organization Association for Tradition and Culture "Niklot" was founded in 1998 by Tomasz Szczepanski, a former NOP member, promoting Slavic supremacy and neopaganism. Since the mid-1990s, the ultra-Catholic Radio Maryja station has been on air with an anti-modernist, nationalist and xenophobic program.[12] All-Polish Youth and National Radical Camp were "recreated" in 1989 and 1993, respectively becoming Poland's most prominent far-right organizations.

In 1995, the Anti-Defamation League estimated the number of far-right skinheads in Poland at 2,000, the fifth highest number after Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the United States.[13] Since the late 2000s, native White power skinhead, White supremacy, and Neo-Nazi groups were largely absorbed into more casual and better organized "Autonomous Nationalists".

National Radical Camp march in Kraków, July 2007

On the political level, the biggest victories achieved so far by the far-right were in the 2001, 2005, 2015, 2019 and 2023 elections. The League of Polish Families won 38 seats in 2001, and 34 in 2005. In 2015, entering parliament from the list of Kukiz'15, the far-right National Movement gained 5 seats out of Kukiz's 42. In April 2016, the National Movement leadership decided to break-off with Kukiz's movement, but only one MP followed the party's instructions. The ones that decided to stay with Kukiz'15, together with few other Kukiz's MPs, formed parliamentary nationalist association called "National Democracy" (Endecja).[14] In 2019, the Confederation had the best performance of any far-right coalition to date, earning 1,256,953 votes which was 6.81% of the total vote in an election that saw a historically high turnout. Together the coalition (although de jure a party) earned 11 seats, 5 for KORWiN, 5 for National Movement, and 1 for Confederation of the Polish Crown.

In 2023, the Confederation had the best performance of any far-right coalition to date, earning 1,547,364 votes which was 7.16% of the total vote in an election. Together the coalition (although de jure a party) earned 18 seats.

Members of far-right groups make up a significant portion of those taking part in the annual "Independence March" in central Warsaw, which started in 2009, to mark Independence Day. About 60,000 were in the 2017 march marking the 99th anniversary of independence, with placards such as "Clean Blood" seen on the march.[15]

Examples of influence

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Islamophobia

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There have been reports of hate crimes targeting Muslim minority in Poland. Far-right and right-wing populist political parties and organizations fuel fear and hatred towards Islam and Muslims.[16] Hate crimes such as arson and physical violence have occurred in Poland (despite having a Muslim population of only 0.1%, that is 30,000 out of 38 million).[17][18] Politicians have also made racist and anti-Muslim comments when discussing European migrant crisis;[19] in 2015, Jarosław Kaczyński claimed that Poland "can't" accept any refugees because "they could spread infectious diseases."[20] In 2017, the First Deputy Minister of Justice Patryk Jaki stated that "stopping Islamization is his Westerplatte".[21]

After the 2015 elections

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In May 2016, despite criticism from human rights NGOs, opposition parties and left-wing organizations, of the appeasement of the far-right, the right-wing government of Law and Justice (PiS) disbanded governmental advisory and coordinating body that dealt with "racial discrimination, xenophobia and related to them, intolerance" (Rada ds. Przeciwdziałania Dyskryminacji Rasowej, Ksenofobii i związanej z nimi Nietolerancji), by claiming that its mission was "useless".[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Geneviève Zubrzycki (15 October 2009). The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland. University of Chicago Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-226-99305-8. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  2. ^ Stefan Auer (22 January 2004). Liberal Nationalism in Central Europe. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-37860-9. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. ^ Stefan Auer (22 January 2004). Liberal Nationalism in Central Europe. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-134-37860-9. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. ^ Geneviève Zubrzycki (15 October 2009). The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland. University of Chicago Press. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-0-226-99305-8. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  5. ^ Karin Friedrich; Barbara M. Pendzich (2009). Citizenship and Identity in a Multinational Commonwealth: Poland-Lithuania in Context, 1550-1772. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 978-90-04-16983-8. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. ^ Thomas K. Nakayama; Rona Tamiko Halualani (21 March 2011). The Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication. John Wiley & Sons. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-4443-9067-4. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. ^ Geneviève Zubrzycki (15 October 2009). The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland. University of Chicago Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-226-99305-8. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  8. ^ Geneviève Zubrzycki (15 October 2009). The Crosses of Auschwitz: Nationalism and Religion in Post-Communist Poland. University of Chicago Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-226-99305-8. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  9. ^ Jóhann Páll Árnason; Natalie Doyle (2010). Domains and Divisions of European History. Liverpool University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-84631-214-4. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  10. ^ Laura Ann Crago (1993). Nationalism, religion, citizenship, and work in the development of the Polish working class and the Polish trade union movement, 1815-1929: a comparative study of Russian Poland's textile workers and upper Silesian miners and metalworkers. Yale University. p. 168. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  11. ^ Stefan Auer (22 January 2004). Liberal Nationalism in Central Europe. Routledge. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-1-134-37860-9. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  12. ^ Liang (2007), p. 265f.
  13. ^ Suall, Irwin; et al. (1995). The Skinhead International: A worldwide survey of Neo-Nazi skinheads. Anti-Defamation League. p. 1. ISBN 0-88464-166-X.
  14. ^ Powstało stowarzyszenie Endecja z udziałem posłów Kukiza Archived 2017-03-28 at the Wayback Machine rp.pl, 19 May 2016
  15. ^ Noack, Rick (13 November 2017). "How Poland became a breeding ground for Europe's far right". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  16. ^ Hume, Tim (9 May 2017). "Poland's populist government let far-right extremism explode into mainstream". Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2017-05-11 – via news.vice.com.
  17. ^ "Why are Polish people so wrong about Muslims in their country?". openDemocracy. 13 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  18. ^ "European Islamophobia Report" (PDF). SETA. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  19. ^ Leszczyński, Adam (2 July 2015). "'Poles don't want immigrants. They don't understand them, don't like them'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-06-14. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Polish opposition warns refugees could spread infectious diseases". Reuters. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-08-01. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Kto chce zakazać Koranu w Polsce". Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Rada ds. Walki z rasizmem rozwiązana. Rzecznik rządu wyjaśnia, dlaczego". Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2017-05-11.

Bibliography

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  • Ronnie Ferguson, Luciano Cheles, Michalina Vaughan (eds.) The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, Longman (1995), ISBN 978-0-582-23881-7.
  • David Ost, "The Radical Right in Poland", chapter 5 in: The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe Since 1989 (1999), ISBN 0-271-01811-9.
  • Christina Schori Liang, Europe for the Europeans: The Foreign and Security Policy of the Populist, Ashgate Publishing (2007), ISBN 0-7546-4851-6.
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