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A hard-right party gathers strength in Poland, pushing a new, less friendly course on Ukraine
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Slawomir Mentzen, left, and Krzysztof Bosak, right, the oo-leders of the hard right Confederation party, present their party slogan "Mozemy Wszystko!" (We Can Do Anything) at a convention in Katowice, Poland, on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. Confederation has been growing in popularity, especially among young men. The party has been riding a wave of growing support for far-right parties across Europe, and polls show it could increase its presence in parliament in a national election Oct. 15. No matter how they do on election day, the party has already done a lot to push the government to take a more confrontational stance to Ukraine, which is fighting for its survival against Russia. - photo by AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski
KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — Poland’s hard-right Confederation party opened its electoral campaign convention as if it were a rock concert, with a singer riding up on a motorcycle, its engine revving, and a pyrotechnic show of flames and sparklers. The party has been growing in popularity, especially among young men fed up with the political parties that have dominated Poland for most of the post-Communist era. Its convention in Katowice on Saturday, billed as its largest ahead of parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, was aimed at energizing more voters and at playing down antisemitism and other extreme views among some of its members.