Jo Harper
25 July 2024•Update: 25 July 2024
WARSAW
Activists from the far-right Confederation party on Thursday morning protested in front of the parliament building in Warsaw, accusing the Polish government of supporting Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia, saying it is Kyiv's war, not theirs.
Confederation leaders Janusz Korwin-Mikke Grzegorz Braun held up a banner at the protest, demanding that Prime Minister Donald Tusk be held accountable for "treason," the online news outlet Onet reported.
The rally’s slogan was "Stop dragging Poland into a war that is not ours."
Protesters later dispersed peacefully.
During the protest, Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski appeared in front of parliament, challenging Confederation activists to a debate on the issue, he wrote on X.
At an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday, Sikorski urged EU countries to agree to Ukraine using long-range weapons against Russian targets.
The idea is for Kyiv to be able to prevent Russian attacks by shooting at planes firing cruise missiles or the airports from which the planes take off, he said.
“It seems to me that it would be self-defense, which is legal under international law. The defense of children's oncology hospitals is not an escalation,” he added.
Monday's meeting was the first between EU foreign ministers since Russia's alleged attack on a children's oncology hospital in Kyiv.
Poland has been at the forefront of financial, military, and diplomatic support for Ukraine since Feb. 2022, with approximately 1 million Ukrainian refugees have taken refuge in the country.
Confederation is the fourth latest party in the parliament and is avowedly pro-Putin, Russian president. All other parties in the 460-seat parliament are explicit in their continued support for Ukraine.
