STORY: Anti-immigration protesters marched through Warsaw on Saturday (July 19), with a rival anti-fascism demonstrations just metres away.

Police kept the two groups separate as they chanted profanity-laden slogans at each other across a roadway in the Polish capital's downtown area. There were no reports of major violence.

The protests in the capital came alongside similar demonstrations and counter-demonstrations in cities across Poland.

Public sentiment in Poland towards migrants has hardened since a Venezuelan citizen was charged with killing a 24-year-old woman in the city of Torun in June.

Earlier in July, Poland introduced temporary controls on its borders with Germany and Lithuania, in what the government said was a step to check migrants more thoroughly amid public concerns over immigration.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: WARSAW, POLAND (JULY 19, 2024) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS CHANTING

2. COUNTER PROTEST NEARBY

3. VARIOUS OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS CLIMBING ROADSIDE RAILING, CHANTING PROFANITY AT COUNTER-PROTESTERS

4. VARIOUS OF COUNTER-PROTEST CHANTING AND HOLDING SIGNS

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) STOP FASCISM PROTESTER, MARCIN BUJAK, 50-YEAR-OLD ENTREPRENEUR FROM LUBLIN, SAYING:

"I came here to show that we want peace in our country, that we have been an open country for many years. In fact, we Poles were refugees and emigrants to other countries for decades, even hundreds of years, so I think now we should repay that by acting the same way."

6. ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS SEEN ACROSS STREET FROM COUNTER-PROTEST

7. COUNTER-PROTESTER HOLDING UP SIGN READING (English): "No human is illegal"

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ANTI-MIGRATION PROTESTER, STANISLAW, 73-YEAR-OLD PENSIONER FROM WARSAW, SAYING:

"What I fear most is that there is no force in Poland capable of standing up to this—short of bringing the army out onto the streets—standing up to those migrants who could cause disorder and chaos here in Poland."

9. ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS CHANTING AND JUMPING

10. COUNTER-PROTESTERS CHANTING / PALACE OF SCIENCE AND CULTURE SEEN IN BACKGROUND

11. ANTI-IMMIGRATION PROTESTERS GATHERED EARLIER TO HEAR SPEECHES BEFORE THE PROTEST

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR RIGHT-WING CONFEDERATION PARTY, PRZEMYSLAW WIPLER, SAYING:

“We are protesting against the helplessness and weakness shown by the government in recent years, and against the poor policies carried out by the predecessors of the current government. Hundreds of thousands of migrants brought in on more or less illegal visas. Tens of thousands of migrants illegally dropped on us by the German police, by the German authorities.”

13. PROTESTER

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR RIGHT-WING CONFEDERATION PARTY, PRZEMYSLAW WIPLER, SAYING:

“We do not need to grant asylum, we need a European deportation policy. We need the implementation of the Fortress Europe plan, Fortress Poland. We need a real plan to defend our borders and we will consistently implement this plan.”

15. PROTESTERS WITH FLAGS