The organizers of the Independence March have announced that this year’s event will take place as a motorcade because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the organizers, everyone who wishes to participate in the march is very welcome to come to Warsaw as long as they do not leave their cars.
On Friday, the Mayor of Warsaw banned the organising of the Independence March due to the epidemiological situation in the country and the guidelines set by the Sanitary Inspectorate. The decision was upheld by the court of appeal. Due to the fact that the organisers changed the form of the march to a motorcade, the city hall said that to participate in such a parade one needs to have a special permission which can take up to 30 days to be approved and issued.
“We still haven’t received a proper application. If it is to be an organised motorcade then a special permission must be issued by the office of transport policy. If such a permission is not issued then it is a traffic violation.” said Karolina Gałecka, the spokeswoman for the Warsaw city hall.
The planned route of the motorcade goes through the Dmowski roundabout, then through Aleje Jerozolimskie, Poniatowski bridge and ends near the National Stadium.
“As of this time I have no information which would allow for such a motorcade to take place, so we can only expect the law to be broken. The police will most probably intervene, but our action only serves to make our citizens safe.” stated the spokesman for the Warsaw police, Sylwester Marczak.
Another independence motorcade is to take place in Szczecin.
“We have been preparing this event for the past several months and our main challenge is the pandemic and to stop the crowds from stepping out of their vehicles.” commented Artur Szczodry, the president of the Association of Patriotic Communities.
The idea for such a form of celebration came from the American clubs of “Gazeta Polska” weekly.
“It was the American clubs of “Gazeta Polska” who proposed the idea which is so common in the US, such as these motorcades which are often organised for presidential campaigns. It is something that has proven to work.” said the editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Polska” – Tomasz Sakiewicz.
More than 5 thousand people have so far declared their participation in the march on Facebook.