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|
Falanga | |
---|---|
Leader | Bartosz Bekier |
Founder | Bartosz Bekier |
Founded | January 2009 |
Split from | National Radical Camp |
Ideology |
National Radicalism Polish nationalism National-revolutionary Eurasianism Militarism Russophilia Hard Euroscepticism Anti-LGBT rhetoric Anti-Americanism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism |
Political position | Far-right |
Continental affiliation | Eurasia Movement |
Colors | Black, red and white |
Slogan | Polska! Młodość! Rewolucja! (eng. 'Poland! Youth! Revolution!') |
Website | |
www.xportal.press |
Falanga is a Polish national radical organization founded in January 2009. [1] It is currently led by the former coordinator of the Masovian Brigade of the National Radical Camp (ONR), Bartosz Bekier . [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2009, the Falanga organization was founded based on the Masovian Brigade of the National-Radical Camp structures by Bartosz Bekier. Fascinated by political activity, Bekier joined the ONR as a teenager in 2005. Inspired by Italian and Spanish fascism, he took over the position as head of the Masovian Brigade of the ONR. Bekier left the ONR officially in 2009 after his failed attempt to take over the entire ONR and after quarrelling with Przemysław Holocher, former leader of the ONR. At the peak of its development, Falanga had branches in Kraków, Zielona Góra, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn, Gdańsk, Poznań and Warsaw. Their ideas are primarily the fight against liberalism and globalization. They support Eurasianism. It is a geopolitical vision whose core is the alliance of Russia and Western Europe against the United States. [2] [3] [5]
Apart from Bekier, other notable (current or former) members of Falanga include Michał Prokopowicz, Ronald Lasecki, and dr. Adam Danek. [3]
In June 2013, Falanga launched a mission in war-torn civil Syria, engaging with the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad. Its representatives met, among other things, with Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi, Grand Mufti of Syria, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christian clergy, government troops, Hezbollah [7] fighters and representatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. [6] [8]
In 2014, during a mission in eastern Ukraine, Falanga officially supported the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in Donbas. [9] The leader of the Falanga also met with the Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin. [1] [10] Bartosz Bekier gave an interview with the Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic for Xportal. [11] In October 2014, the Ukrainian Border Guard detained several Falanga members. Members were banned from entering Ukraine for three years. [12]
In February 2015, Falanga officially joined the structures of the then-newly formed pro-Russian Zmiana party, [13] which was founded by a former MP and spokesman for Samoobrona RP, Dr. Mateusz Piskorski. [13] [14] Bartosz Bekier became the deputy head of the Zmiana, [15] and the Krakow member of the Falanga organization, Michał Prokopowicz, became its security expert as well as regional coordinator for Lesser Poland. [15] [16] On May 2, 2016, Bartosz Bekier published a statement about his departure from the Zmiana party. [17] On May 18, 2016, (only 16 days later), leader Mateusz Piskorski was arrested by the Internal Security Agency, and later charged with espionage for Russian and Chinese intelligence. [18]
On July 4, 2015, Falanga officially established cooperation with the Czech National Democracy, whose representatives took part in a joint conference on the issues of Central Europe and then in an anti-American protest at the US consulate in Krakow. [19]
On August 15, 2015, a delegation of Falanga and Xportal.pl participated in anti-liberal and anti-immigrant demonstrations organized by the allied Czech National Democracy party in Prague. [20]
In June 2016, Michał Prokopowicz and the members of the Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039, who were associated with him and with the Falanga organization, took part in the multinational NATO exercises "Anakonda-16". [21] [22] [23] [24] The Ministry of National Defense denied inviting Falanga members to these military manoeuvres. [24] [25] Officially, however, their participation was notified by the Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039 members, and the information about the participation of the "Rifleman" groups appeared on the Ministry of National Defense website devoted to NATO exercises. In September 2016, a former officer of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, Michał Rybak, described this state of affairs as a system error. [26]
On February 4, 2018, an attempt was made to set fire to the centre of the Hungarian minority in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. [27] [28] At the end of February 2018, the Security Service of Ukraine stated that several Falanga members who had acted on the orders of the Russian special services were responsible for the event. Between February 21 of 2018, they were arrested by the Internal Security Agency. [28] [29] [30] On February 24, 2018, Bartosz Bekier officially denied that the Falanga organization was responsible for the incident. [31]
In January 2019, several former members of the Falanga organization faced charges of committing a terrorist act in a Kraków court. [32] [33] According to the prosecutor's office, the operation was aimed at disrupting the system of Ukraine and deepening the ethnic divisions between Ukrainians and Hungarians. [34]
On March 23, 2020, a non-final judgment was passed in this case. In it, the district court of Kraków upheld the position of the prosecutor's office that the crime was terrorist in nature, and it found all the accused guilty of the actions with which they had been charged. The judgment also sentenced the organizer of the arson, Michał Prokopowicz, to a penalty of 3 years imprisonment, and it sentenced contractors to 1- and 2-year terms respectively. Neither party appealed, and the judgment became final. [35] [36] [37] [38]
During the proceedings, Michał Prokopowicz testified in court that the organization of the terrorist attack was commissioned and financed by the German journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter, whose plenipotentiary denied this version of the events. [39] After the accusation was revealed, Manuel Ochsenreiter lost his position as an associate of Markus Frohnmaier, an AfD member of the Bundestag. Polish and German law enforcement agencies unsuccessfully sought him for the next few years. There were reports that he had been in Russia and Morocco. In August 2021, Russian authorities and media announced that Manuel Ochsenreiter died of a heart attack in Moscow. [40] [41]
In July of 2019, Bekier traveled to Russia to attend the "Second International Forum of the Development of Parliamentarism." In his appeal to Vladimir Putin and the Russian political class in the Duma, Bekier demanded the following:
In addition, he postulated the forced federalization of Lithuania and territorial autonomy for the Vilnius region.
In October 2020, during the mass protests that had been going on for over a week against the tightening of abortion regulations in Poland, an interview with Bartosz Bekier was published on the home page of Onet.pl. The leader of the Falanga said that about 10,000 nationalists are expected to appear in Warsaw in the first week of November and ⅓ to half of them are trained in combat tactics. [42] [43] [44]
On the evening of October 30, 2020, a multi-thousand demonstration occurred, [45] in which the Police arrested 37 people, 35 of whom attacked demonstration participants. [46] [47] [48]
The Falanga has tightened cooperation with:
This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Falanga | |
---|---|
Leader | Bartosz Bekier |
Founder | Bartosz Bekier |
Founded | January 2009 |
Split from | National Radical Camp |
Ideology |
National Radicalism Polish nationalism National-revolutionary Eurasianism Militarism Russophilia Hard Euroscepticism Anti-LGBT rhetoric Anti-Americanism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism |
Political position | Far-right |
Continental affiliation | Eurasia Movement |
Colors | Black, red and white |
Slogan | Polska! Młodość! Rewolucja! (eng. 'Poland! Youth! Revolution!') |
Website | |
www.xportal.press |
Falanga is a Polish national radical organization founded in January 2009. [1] It is currently led by the former coordinator of the Masovian Brigade of the National Radical Camp (ONR), Bartosz Bekier . [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 2009, the Falanga organization was founded based on the Masovian Brigade of the National-Radical Camp structures by Bartosz Bekier. Fascinated by political activity, Bekier joined the ONR as a teenager in 2005. Inspired by Italian and Spanish fascism, he took over the position as head of the Masovian Brigade of the ONR. Bekier left the ONR officially in 2009 after his failed attempt to take over the entire ONR and after quarrelling with Przemysław Holocher, former leader of the ONR. At the peak of its development, Falanga had branches in Kraków, Zielona Góra, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn, Gdańsk, Poznań and Warsaw. Their ideas are primarily the fight against liberalism and globalization. They support Eurasianism. It is a geopolitical vision whose core is the alliance of Russia and Western Europe against the United States. [2] [3] [5]
Apart from Bekier, other notable (current or former) members of Falanga include Michał Prokopowicz, Ronald Lasecki, and dr. Adam Danek. [3]
In June 2013, Falanga launched a mission in war-torn civil Syria, engaging with the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad. Its representatives met, among other things, with Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi, Grand Mufti of Syria, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christian clergy, government troops, Hezbollah [7] fighters and representatives of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. [6] [8]
In 2014, during a mission in eastern Ukraine, Falanga officially supported the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in Donbas. [9] The leader of the Falanga also met with the Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin. [1] [10] Bartosz Bekier gave an interview with the Prime Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic for Xportal. [11] In October 2014, the Ukrainian Border Guard detained several Falanga members. Members were banned from entering Ukraine for three years. [12]
In February 2015, Falanga officially joined the structures of the then-newly formed pro-Russian Zmiana party, [13] which was founded by a former MP and spokesman for Samoobrona RP, Dr. Mateusz Piskorski. [13] [14] Bartosz Bekier became the deputy head of the Zmiana, [15] and the Krakow member of the Falanga organization, Michał Prokopowicz, became its security expert as well as regional coordinator for Lesser Poland. [15] [16] On May 2, 2016, Bartosz Bekier published a statement about his departure from the Zmiana party. [17] On May 18, 2016, (only 16 days later), leader Mateusz Piskorski was arrested by the Internal Security Agency, and later charged with espionage for Russian and Chinese intelligence. [18]
On July 4, 2015, Falanga officially established cooperation with the Czech National Democracy, whose representatives took part in a joint conference on the issues of Central Europe and then in an anti-American protest at the US consulate in Krakow. [19]
On August 15, 2015, a delegation of Falanga and Xportal.pl participated in anti-liberal and anti-immigrant demonstrations organized by the allied Czech National Democracy party in Prague. [20]
In June 2016, Michał Prokopowicz and the members of the Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039, who were associated with him and with the Falanga organization, took part in the multinational NATO exercises "Anakonda-16". [21] [22] [23] [24] The Ministry of National Defense denied inviting Falanga members to these military manoeuvres. [24] [25] Officially, however, their participation was notified by the Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039 members, and the information about the participation of the "Rifleman" groups appeared on the Ministry of National Defense website devoted to NATO exercises. In September 2016, a former officer of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, Michał Rybak, described this state of affairs as a system error. [26]
On February 4, 2018, an attempt was made to set fire to the centre of the Hungarian minority in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. [27] [28] At the end of February 2018, the Security Service of Ukraine stated that several Falanga members who had acted on the orders of the Russian special services were responsible for the event. Between February 21 of 2018, they were arrested by the Internal Security Agency. [28] [29] [30] On February 24, 2018, Bartosz Bekier officially denied that the Falanga organization was responsible for the incident. [31]
In January 2019, several former members of the Falanga organization faced charges of committing a terrorist act in a Kraków court. [32] [33] According to the prosecutor's office, the operation was aimed at disrupting the system of Ukraine and deepening the ethnic divisions between Ukrainians and Hungarians. [34]
On March 23, 2020, a non-final judgment was passed in this case. In it, the district court of Kraków upheld the position of the prosecutor's office that the crime was terrorist in nature, and it found all the accused guilty of the actions with which they had been charged. The judgment also sentenced the organizer of the arson, Michał Prokopowicz, to a penalty of 3 years imprisonment, and it sentenced contractors to 1- and 2-year terms respectively. Neither party appealed, and the judgment became final. [35] [36] [37] [38]
During the proceedings, Michał Prokopowicz testified in court that the organization of the terrorist attack was commissioned and financed by the German journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter, whose plenipotentiary denied this version of the events. [39] After the accusation was revealed, Manuel Ochsenreiter lost his position as an associate of Markus Frohnmaier, an AfD member of the Bundestag. Polish and German law enforcement agencies unsuccessfully sought him for the next few years. There were reports that he had been in Russia and Morocco. In August 2021, Russian authorities and media announced that Manuel Ochsenreiter died of a heart attack in Moscow. [40] [41]
In July of 2019, Bekier traveled to Russia to attend the "Second International Forum of the Development of Parliamentarism." In his appeal to Vladimir Putin and the Russian political class in the Duma, Bekier demanded the following:
In addition, he postulated the forced federalization of Lithuania and territorial autonomy for the Vilnius region.
In October 2020, during the mass protests that had been going on for over a week against the tightening of abortion regulations in Poland, an interview with Bartosz Bekier was published on the home page of Onet.pl. The leader of the Falanga said that about 10,000 nationalists are expected to appear in Warsaw in the first week of November and ⅓ to half of them are trained in combat tactics. [42] [43] [44]
On the evening of October 30, 2020, a multi-thousand demonstration occurred, [45] in which the Police arrested 37 people, 35 of whom attacked demonstration participants. [46] [47] [48]
The Falanga has tightened cooperation with: