Poland's annual Independence March goes ahead in Warsaw today, Wednesday 11 November 2026, with President Karol Nawrocki joining the marchers as the country marks the anniversary of independence restored in 1918. The march sets off at 2:30 p.m. from Dmowski Roundabout and heads across the Poniatowski Bridge to the National Stadium, under some of the tightest security ever imposed on the event.

Organisers expect up to 500,000 people to take part, although that figure has not been independently verified. The march is held under the slogan “Polak w Polsce gospodarzem”, which translates roughly as “Poles should be in charge in Poland”. President Nawrocki confirmed on 6 November that he will take part, as he does every year.

Route and timings

The procession gathers at Roman Dmowski Roundabout in central Warsaw, proceeds along Jerusalem Avenue and across the Poniatowski Bridge, and ends on the meadows beside the National Stadium, where an Independence Stage will host concerts. Before the march, an Independence Town with entertainment for residents and visitors runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Central Avenue. The morning also features the 36th Independence Run, a 10 km race starting at 11:11.

Security after the Kraków attack

Security is heightened after the attack in Kraków on 7 November, when a 24-year-old man drove a car onto the Main Market Square and opened fire on passers-by. Six people were killed and more than ten injured, according to RMF24, and the gunman later died in hospital. President Nawrocki declared two days of national mourning on 8 and 9 November.

Poland is under a nationwide BRAVO alert level, and police say eight people were detained for posting threatening content online ahead of 11 November. The Masovian voivode has banned the carrying, transport and use of pyrotechnics, and the interior ministry has moved to ban the carrying of any weapons in Warsaw on the day, including unloaded ones. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on 8 November that no one plans to ban the march itself, calling speculation about a ban disinformation.

A march held amid a constitutional dispute

This year's march takes place during a confrontation between the president and the government over the Constitutional Tribunal. On 30 October, Tribunal judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska announced the temporary suspension of the institution's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, Bartłomiej Sochański, after months of dispute over judges elected by the parliamentary majority whose appointments President Nawrocki has refused to recognise.

The International Commission of Jurists warned on 3 November that, although the president's obstruction of judicial appointments violated international standards, suspending the Tribunal's leadership through disputed procedures involving the police was also unacceptable. In December 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that Poland's Constitutional Tribunal failed to satisfy European requirements of judicial independence. A February 2026 CBOS survey found that 82 per cent of Polish respondents supported EU membership, compared with 14 per cent who opposed it. Poland celebrates 11 November because the country recovered its independence in 1918 after 123 years of partition between neighbouring empires.