Hundreds of thousands of people gathered for a large anti-government march in the center of Warsaw on Sunday, two weeks before the election, center-right opposition leader Donald Tusk said, according to AFP.

“When I see these hundreds of thousands of smiling faces, I feel that a decisive moment in the history of our country is approaching,” said the former prime minister, ex-chairman of the European Council at the beginning of the march, 15 days. before the elections.

A million people are expected to turn out in Warsaw on Sunday for a demonstration called by the opposition to encourage mobilization ahead of the Oct. 15 election in the country, which has been ruled by Eurosceptic nationalists for eight years.

The “March of Millions of Hearts”, as former prime minister and leader of the centrist Civic Platform (PO) bloc Donald Tusk called it, was due to start at noon (1000 GMT).

It will be “one of the biggest events” in Poland’s modern history and will be one of the “biggest demonstrations in Europe in recent years,” said Tusk, a former president of the European Council.

“They will not intimidate us, they will not silence us. It is important that the whole of Poland sees that no one is afraid of them anymore,” Tusk said on Thursday in Elbląg (north), referring to the Law and Justice party (PiS). ), which has been in power for eight years.

People came from all over Poland to demonstrate against the government.

Kazimierz Figzal says it took him seven hours to get to the capital in southwestern Poland.

“We are tired of what we are seeing today. Our freedom is limited. We want democracy for our children and our grandchildren,” the 65-year-old told AFP with the flags of Poland and the European Union on his hands.

Former president and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa has announced that he will take part in the march, as have several opposition party leaders.

“We know what you fear most: cooperation within the opposition,” said Wlodzimez Charzasty, co-leader of the New Left party, addressing Deputy Prime Minister and PiS leader Yaroslav Kaczyński.

“Nothing has been decided”

Despite numerous conflicts with the EU and accusations of undermining the rule of law, Kaczyński’s populist nationalist party maintains a solid lead in opinion polls, with around 35% of intentions to vote, according to the sociological institute IBRiS.

In second place is the Civic Coalition, which, according to the same survey, was supported by 27% of voters.

However, according to Tusk, polls commissioned by his party show that the Law and Justice party’s lead has recently shrunk to just two percentage points.

“Nothing has been decided yet,” he told the crowd in Elblång, promising to hold the current government to account after the election.

“Many of them will go to prison for theft, for violating the law and the Constitution,” he insisted.

PiS leaders are holding their own rally in the southern city of Katowice on Sunday.

Bartlomei Piela came from Katowice to the capital to take part in an opposition rally and protest against “what is happening in Poland”.

“The violation of the fundamental rights of citizens and the freedom of women to choose their lifestyle, pitting Poles against each other… I hope that the march will mobilize people to change this,” says the 29-year-old.