On Saturday, a protest took place on the border bridge in Zgorzelec against Germany transferring illegal migrants to Poland. The event, organized by the Roty Marszu Niepodległości Association and co-organized by the Gazeta Polska Clubs, brought together a large crowd of patriots.
One of the organizers, Robert Bąkiewicz, warned on his x.com profile about a group of provocateurs at the protest. Masked men appeared at the demonstration but failed to disrupt the event.
“We demanded from the stage that they remove their masks, as we don’t want images intended for the German media suggesting that supposed Nazis appeared at a patriotic demonstration. We surrounded them and asked them to leave the gathering, but they started a fight. … We then handed them over to the police, who showed up on the outskirts. It later turned out that these individuals were quite friendly with the police. They appeared on the edges of our demonstration without masks, but always accompanied by an officer. We assume this was a police provocation—probably intended to use them as a pretext to shut down the demonstration,”
reported Adam Borowski—chair of the Warsaw “Gazeta Polska” Club, who was in Zgorzelec—in an interview with the niezalezna.pl portal.
“Bild” on the Protesters: Neonazis from Poland
Just yesterday, the online portal of the German daily “Bild” published a text by Markus Langner with the original headline “Polish Neo-Nazis Protest Against Refugees from Germany.” It was later changed to “Polish Right-Wing Extremists Demonstrate Against Refugees.” The illustrative photo featured the aforementioned masked provocateurs.
The text mentions, among other things, how “neo-Nazis from Poland are sending their message across the closed border,” and refers to “hundreds of demonstrators, including many Polish neo-Nazis,” holding “banners with slogans also seen at AfD demonstrations in Saxony.”
“Bild” also writes that Germany’s deportation policy “does not suit the neo-Nazis in the neighboring country,” and describes Robert Bąkiewicz, the organizer of Saturday’s protest, as a “right-wing extremist.”
Bąkiewicz: I Demand an Apology
On social media, Bąkiewicz called for “an immediate correction of the false and offensive statements contained in the publication, as well as a published apology.”
“Despite the headline change, the article still contains the same false and defamatory suggestions, including referring to the protesters as ‘neo-Nazis’ and calling me personally an ‘extremist.’ I find it scandalous and unacceptable, especially coming from an editorial office representing a country that is the heir of a Nazi past,”
wrote Bąkiewicz.
The president of the “Niepodległość” (Independence) party noted that such moves by the German press are “an insulting attempt to reverse historical truth.”
“I demand that you correct the text, remove the false statements, and publish an apology in a prominent place on your portal. I am giving you 48 hours to comply. Otherwise, I will take legal steps to hold the editors of BILD accountable for disseminating lies and defamation,”
Bąkiewicz concluded.