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Falanga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Bartosz Bekier |
| Founder | Bartosz Bekier |
| Founded | January 2009 |
| Split from | National Radical Camp |
| Ideology | National radicalism [pl] Polish nationalism Revolutionary nationalism Militarism Eurasianism Russophilia Hard Euroscepticism Anti-LGBT Anti-Americanism Anti-Ukrainianism Anti-Zionism Antisemitism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Continental affiliation | Eurasia Movement |
| Colors | Black, red and white |
| Slogan | Polska! Młodość! Rewolucja! ("Poland! Youth! Revolution!") |
| Website | |
| www.xportal.press | |
Falanga is a Polishnational radical organization which was founded in January 2009.[1] It is led byBartosz Bekier [fr], former coordinator of the Masovian Brigade of theNational Radical Camp (ONR).[1][2][3][4]
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Falanga was founded by Bartosz Bekier in 2009, based on the Masovian Brigade of theNational Radical Camp (ONR). Bekier, who was interested in politics, joined the ONR as a teenager in 2005. Inspired by Italian and Spanishfascism, he became head of the ONR's Masovian Brigade. Bekier left the ONR in 2009 after a failed attempt to take over the organisation and a dispute with former ONR leader Przemysław Holocher. At the peak of its development, Falanga had branches inKraków,Zielona Góra,Bydgoszcz,Olsztyn,Gdańsk,Poznań andWarsaw. Their ideology is based on opposition toliberalism andglobalization. Falanga supportsEurasianism, a geopolitical vision whose core is the alliance of Russia and Western Europe against the United States.[2][3][5] Other notable (current or former) members of Falanga include Michał Prokopowicz, Ronald Lasecki, and Adam Danek.[3]
Falanga began a mission inSyria in June 2013, engaging with the government of PresidentBashar al-Assad. Falanga representatives met withSyrian Prime MinisterWael Nader al-Halqi, the country'sGrand Mufti, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christian clergy, government troops,Hezbollah,[7] and representatives of theSyrian Social Nationalist Party.[6][8]
During a mission to easternUkraine in 2014, Falanga expressed support for the separatistDonetsk People's Republic and theLuhansk People's Republic inDonbas.[10] Falanga leader Bekier also met withDenis Pushilin, prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic,[1][11] and interviewed Pushilin for Xportal.[9] In October 2014,Ukrainian border guards detained several Falanga members and banned them from entering Ukraine for three years.[12]
Falanga joined the new,pro-Russian Zmiana party in February 2015,[13] which was founded by former MP andSamoobrona RP spokesmanMateusz Piskorski.[13][14] Bekier became deputy head of Zmiana,[15] and Krakow Falanga member Michał Prokopowicz became its security expert and regional coordinator forLesser Poland.[15][16] On May 2, 2016, Bekier published a statement about his departure from the party.[17] Zmiana leader Mateusz Piskorski was arrested 16 days later by theInternal Security Agency, and was later charged with spying for Russia and China.[18]
Falanga allied itself with the Czech Republic'sNational Democracy party (ND) on July 4, 2015, participating in a joint conference on Central European issues and ananti-American protest at the US consulate inKrakow.[19] On August 15 of that year, a delegation from Falanga and Xportal.pl participated in anti-liberal and anti-immigrant demonstrations organized by the National Democracy party inPrague.[20]
In June 2016, Michał Prokopowicz and the members of Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039 (who were associated with him and Falanga) participated in the multinational Anakonda-16NATO exercises.[21][22][23][24] TheMinistry of National Defense denied inviting Falanga members to the military manoeuvres.[24][25] Their participation was announced by Krakow Rifle Unit Association 2039 members, and information about the participation of the "Rifleman" groups appeared on the Ministry of National Defense webpage for NATO exercises. In September 2016, formerForeign Intelligence Agency officer Michał Rybak called the state of affairs a "system error".[26]
On February 4, 2018, an attempt was made to set fire to theHungarian centre inUzhhorod, Ukraine.[27][28] TheSecurity Service of Ukraine said at the end of the month that several Falanga members who had acted on orders from the Russian special services were responsible for the arson attempt, and they were arrested by the Internal Security Agency on February 21.[28][29][30] On February 24, Bekier denied that Falanga was responsible for the incident.[31]
In January 2019, several former Falanga members were charged with committing aterrorist act by a Kraków court.[32][33] According to theprosecutor'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, an interim ruling was issued in the case. The Kraków district court of affirmed the position of the prosecutor's office that the crime was a terrorist one, and found all the accused guilty. Arson organizer Michał Prokopowicz was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, and his two accomplices were sentenced to one- and two-year terms. No one appealed, and the judgment became final.[35][36][37][38]
Prokopowicz testified that the terrorist attack was organised and financed by German journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter, whose spokesperson denied the accusation.[39] Ochsenreiter then lost his job with Markus Frohnmaier, anAfD member of theBundestag. Polish and German law-enforcement agencies unsuccessfully sought him for several years, with reports that he had been in Russia and Morocco. In August 2021, Russian authorities and media announced that Ochsenreiter had died of a heart attack in Moscow.[40][41]
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In July 2019, Bekier traveled to Russia for the Second International Forum for the Development ofParliamentarianism. In his appeal toVladimir Putin and members of theState Duma, Bekier demanded that Poland leaveNATO and theEU; the implementation of a Polish-Russian alliance; the partition of Ukraine and the annexation ofLviv to Poland. He also suggested the forced federalization ofLithuania and territorial autonomy for theVilnius Region.
In October 2020, during theWomen's Strike protesting the tightening of abortion regulations in Poland, an interview with Bekier was posted onOnet.pl. According to Bekier, "about 10,000 nationalists are expected to appear inWarsaw in the first week of November, and1⁄3 to half of them are trained in combat tactics".[42][43][44] On the evening of October 30, several thousand protesters demonstrated.[45] Thirty-seven people were arrested, 35 of whom had attacked protesters.[46][47][48]
Falanga has cooperated with: