Organised by the opposition Civic Coalition, a march in protest against the rule of the United Right government, passed through Warsaw on Sunday. According to calculations by the Onet portal, the Million Hearts March was attended by 600-800,000 people; the organisers say there were more than a million participants, and the government media report that there were around 160,000 protesters.

The gathering occupied an area of about 350,000 square metres. The march was about 4.5 km long. According to the government news agency, there were 60,000 people at the start of the march, at the Dmowskiego Roundabout, and 100,000 on the march route at the time. “There were 448 buses with demonstrators arriving in Warsaw. This is less than on the occasion of the march on 4 June, when 1,100 arrived”, the Polish Press Agency reported.

Initiated by Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk, the Million Hearts March began at noon at the Dmowskiego Roundabout. It passed through Marszałkowska, Świętokrzyska, Jana Pawła II streets and ended at the Radosław Roundabout. Artists spontaneously came out onto the stage at the end of the march route and sang the song “I love freedom” together. At the end of the march, Donald Tusk performed.

“Wherever I look I can see endless rivers of people. There are more than a million of us, we are participating in a unique event today”, he said. He added that even foreign media were writing about the Million Heart March.

Information about the protest appeared, among others, in the world’s largest news agencies, as well as daily newspapers – the UK’s The Guardian and The Times and France’s Le Monde. Donald Tusk’s speech was broadcast on BBC News television.

“We are participating today in a truly unique event, and this is not about Guinness World Records. It is not about the fact that this is the largest political demonstration in the history of Poland, that this is certainly the largest political gathering in the world today”, said the head of the largest opposition party.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński