Polish right turns out en masse for Independence Day march

Tens of thousands of right-wing supporters including Poland's nationalist president marched for Independence Day in the capital Warsaw on Wednesday

against a backdrop of political friction over a mass shooting in the city of Krakow.



The annual rally – which this year carried the slogan "Poles are masters of their own land" – is viewed by right-wing parties as an expression of national pride. But centrists, now in power, say it has become a platform for racism.



Political sentiment is particularly sensitive after Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government initially suggested that the man who killed six people in Krakow's main square on Saturday may have been motivated by far-right ideology.



President Karol Nawrocki, whose role is largely ceremonial, walked at the front of the crowd in Warsaw, which stretched for more than 3 km (1.9 miles). Many carried white-and-red flags and some ignited flares despite a ban by authorities.