Tens of thousands of Polish protested the Polish Constitutional Court’s decision that some of the articles in the EU treaties are contrary to the Polish constitution and that EU laws cannot be held above national laws. Upon the call of the leader of the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) party and former prime minister Donald Tusk, pro-EU demonstrations were held in various cities of the country today under the name “We stay in the EU, the government leaves”.
Warsaw Municipality Press Spokesperson Monika Beuth-Lutyk reported that between 80 and 100 thousand people attended according to the first determinations. Many politicians and leaders of non-governmental organizations made speeches at the protest in the Royal Castle Square. Donald Tusk said in his speech that the “so-called constitutional court” had decided to remove the country from the EU, in violation of the Polish constitution, on the orders of the ruling party’s leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. “We know very well why Law and Justice Party politicians want to leave the EU. To be able to violate citizens’ rights and principles of democracy with impunity, to steal without limits,” said Donald Tusk, adding that violating EU standards means taking away the rights and freedoms of Polish citizens. He said that all citizens of all political views had to protest this situation together.