Ex-Polish presidents lead anti-government march in Warsaw

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's two former presidents led tens of thousands of marchers Saturday in Warsaw to protest the right-wing government's policies and mark 27 years since the ouster of communism.

The march was yet another in a series organized by a new civic movement, the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, or KOD, against the conservative government that took office in November. The government's policies have strained Poland's relations with the European Union and the U.S. and angered many in Poland. But the ruling party insists it has a mandate from Poland's voters.

The nationalist government has focused on helping those left out of Poland's economic growth and increased its grip on state institutions. The moves have paralyzed the nation's Constitutional Tribunal, put state-owned media under government control and increased police surveillance powers.

Former Polish Presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski, third from the right, and Bronislaw Komorowski, center, take part in a march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The EU says Poland's rule of law and democracy are in danger.

The protests Saturday brought former presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski, a left-winger, and Bronislaw Komorowski, a centrist, together to remind the Poles about their attachment to freedom and to democracy, which they won on June 4, 1989, in an election that peacefully ousted the communists from power.

"We want a free Poland because we fought for it, we dreamed about it and we built it," Komorowski, a dissident under communism, told the crowd.

Warsaw authorities said 50,000 people took part. Smaller marches also took place in other Polish cities and in Berlin and Brussels, the E.U. headquarters.

At the ruling Law and Justice party's regional meeting in Warsaw, party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski insisted Saturday that his policies are improving the lives of Poles and protecting Poland's independence in the 28-nation EU.

Poles have the right to "a new, better shape (of Poland) that would better serve the vast majority of Poles and we will not give that right up," Kaczynski said Saturday, pounding the podium.

People march throughout the downtown to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

People carry a Polish national flag as they march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People carry Polish national flags as they march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People carry a Polish national flag as they march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

People carry a Polish national flag as they march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

People march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A man takes part in a march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People take part in a march to protest the policies of the right-wing Law and Justice government, on the 27th anniversary of the partly free elections that led to overthrowing communism, in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)