Tens of thousands of Poles joined on Sunday in a demonstration for the European Union and against the policies of the current government. In Warsaw, according to a spokesman for the city council, eighty to one hundred thousand people are said to have gathered at the Royal Castle in the old part of the city, Polish media report. Government supporters questioned those turnout figures.
The protesters opposed the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court earlier this week, which said that Polish law and its own constitution are more important than EU law. In Warsaw, demonstrators waved Polish and European flags and shouted slogans such as ‘we stay’ and ‘we are Europe’. Dozens of other cities, including Krakow and Gdansk, also demonstrated against the ruling of the Constitutional Court on Sunday.
‘Legal Pole Exit’
Opposition leader Donald Tusk, also the country’s former prime minister and former president of the European Council, had called for protests earlier this week and gave a speech in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw during the demonstration. “I am sounding the alarm because the ruling party has decided to remove Poland from the EU,” he said, referring to the conservative-nationalist government of the PiS party. “We want an independent, European, democratic, law-abiding and fair Poland. These principles are today crushed by the power without conscience and morality.”
The ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which has been appointed in part illegally, is controversial. The ruling states that Polish politicians can ignore certain parts of European law and judgments of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are not binding, which is contrary to the basic principles of the European Union.
According to critics, the Court’s ruling is a ‘legal polexit’ and has brought a departure from the European legal order closer. Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, on the other hand, welcomed what he believed to be the “constitutional limits to European integration” he said were set by the ruling.
Tens of thousands of Poles joined on Sunday in a demonstration for the European Union and against the policies of the current government. In Warsaw, according to a spokesman for the city council, eighty to one hundred thousand people are said to have gathered at the Royal Castle in the old part of the city, Polish media report. Government supporters questioned those turnout figures.
The protesters opposed the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court earlier this week, which said that Polish law and its own constitution are more important than EU law. In Warsaw, demonstrators waved Polish and European flags and shouted slogans such as ‘we stay’ and ‘we are Europe’. Dozens of other cities, including Krakow and Gdansk, also demonstrated against the ruling of the Constitutional Court on Sunday.
‘Legal Pole Exit’
Opposition leader Donald Tusk, also the country’s former prime minister and former president of the European Council, had called for protests earlier this week and gave a speech in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw during the demonstration. “I am sounding the alarm because the ruling party has decided to remove Poland from the EU,” he said, referring to the conservative-nationalist government of the PiS party. “We want an independent, European, democratic, law-abiding and fair Poland. These principles are today crushed by the power without conscience and morality.”
The ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which has been appointed in part illegally, is controversial. The ruling states that Polish politicians can ignore certain parts of European law and judgments of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are not binding, which is contrary to the basic principles of the European Union.
According to critics, the Court’s ruling is a ‘legal polexit’ and has brought a departure from the European legal order closer. Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, on the other hand, welcomed what he believed to be the “constitutional limits to European integration” he said were set by the ruling.
Tens of thousands of Poles joined on Sunday in a demonstration for the European Union and against the policies of the current government. In Warsaw, according to a spokesman for the city council, eighty to one hundred thousand people are said to have gathered at the Royal Castle in the old part of the city, Polish media report. Government supporters questioned those turnout figures.
The protesters opposed the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court earlier this week, which said that Polish law and its own constitution are more important than EU law. In Warsaw, demonstrators waved Polish and European flags and shouted slogans such as ‘we stay’ and ‘we are Europe’. Dozens of other cities, including Krakow and Gdansk, also demonstrated against the ruling of the Constitutional Court on Sunday.
‘Legal Pole Exit’
Opposition leader Donald Tusk, also the country’s former prime minister and former president of the European Council, had called for protests earlier this week and gave a speech in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw during the demonstration. “I am sounding the alarm because the ruling party has decided to remove Poland from the EU,” he said, referring to the conservative-nationalist government of the PiS party. “We want an independent, European, democratic, law-abiding and fair Poland. These principles are today crushed by the power without conscience and morality.”
The ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which has been appointed in part illegally, is controversial. The ruling states that Polish politicians can ignore certain parts of European law and judgments of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are not binding, which is contrary to the basic principles of the European Union.
According to critics, the Court’s ruling is a ‘legal polexit’ and has brought a departure from the European legal order closer. Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, on the other hand, welcomed what he believed to be the “constitutional limits to European integration” he said were set by the ruling.
Tens of thousands of Poles joined on Sunday in a demonstration for the European Union and against the policies of the current government. In Warsaw, according to a spokesman for the city council, eighty to one hundred thousand people are said to have gathered at the Royal Castle in the old part of the city, Polish media report. Government supporters questioned those turnout figures.
The protesters opposed the ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court earlier this week, which said that Polish law and its own constitution are more important than EU law. In Warsaw, demonstrators waved Polish and European flags and shouted slogans such as ‘we stay’ and ‘we are Europe’. Dozens of other cities, including Krakow and Gdansk, also demonstrated against the ruling of the Constitutional Court on Sunday.
‘Legal Pole Exit’
Opposition leader Donald Tusk, also the country’s former prime minister and former president of the European Council, had called for protests earlier this week and gave a speech in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw during the demonstration. “I am sounding the alarm because the ruling party has decided to remove Poland from the EU,” he said, referring to the conservative-nationalist government of the PiS party. “We want an independent, European, democratic, law-abiding and fair Poland. These principles are today crushed by the power without conscience and morality.”
The ruling of the Polish Constitutional Court, which has been appointed in part illegally, is controversial. The ruling states that Polish politicians can ignore certain parts of European law and judgments of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg are not binding, which is contrary to the basic principles of the European Union.
According to critics, the Court’s ruling is a ‘legal polexit’ and has brought a departure from the European legal order closer. Poland’s Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, on the other hand, welcomed what he believed to be the “constitutional limits to European integration” he said were set by the ruling.