A leading far-right Polish politician is due to speak in London later this month. His visit continues a concerning pattern of far-right events hosted at POSK, a Polish cultural centre in Hammersmith, by the debating group ‘Association for Independent Thought’.
According to the group’s Facebook advertisement, Robert Bąkiewicz, a prominent nationalist politician, will deliver a talk on 26 April entitled ‘From Independence Marches to Defending Borders’, referring to his political career in Poland.
Leadership positions
Bąkiewicz has held leadership positions in several right-wing, populist and nationalist parties and movements in Poland, including the Independence March Association, Law and Justice and the Border Defence Movement.
The latter organises ‘citizen patrols’ who attempt to prevent illegal immigrants entering via the German-Polish border.
This is the second time this year that a far-right Polish speaker has been hosted at the Hammersmith venue by the Association for Independent Thought.
At the end of January they hosted Stanisław Michalkiewicz, a lawyer and political commentator with a longstanding history of antisemitic and misogynistic comments, who delivered a speech titled ‘Will there be a war?’.
In 2023, Bąkiewicz was found guilty of a ‘hooligan act’ against a female activist, which took place in October 2020 at a demonstration against the near-total abortion ban.
Used force
Bąkiewicz and his followers took it upon themselves to use force to prevent protesters from entering churches.
More recently, he has been charged with inciting hatred based on national, ethnic and religious differences after a number of comments he made about Germans and immigrants during a rally in Warsaw in 2025.
He also strongly criticised Prime Minister Donald Tusk – calling him a ‘traitor’ and a ‘coward’ – and may be charged with insulting a public official.
Anti-immigrant
There is a strong sense of irony to a staunchly anti-immigrant politician addressing the Polish diaspora at a community centre built for immigrants. This hypocrisy says the quiet part out loud: that some forms of immigration are considered okay, whilst others are not.
The cartoon images of women in burkas plastered all over Bąkiewicz’s Instagram – subtitled ‘What Poland do you want?’ – make plain his distinction.
In June 2016, POSK itself was a victim of racially-motivated vandalism. Xenophobic graffiti was found on the front entrance of the building and the Metropolitan Police were informed. Ten years later, a politician with a history of inciting hate towards immigrants will be permitted to give a talk at the same centre.
Pilgrimage
Bąkiewicz was for several years President of the Independence March Association which organises the annual Independence March in Warsaw, an event which has become rather a pigrimage for fascists from across Europe.
Last year it was graced by a full Tommy Robinson contingent from the UK: Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) his Urban Scoop podcaster colleague Don Keith, Paul Thorpe, the Epping hotel agitator Sarah White, and Robinson’s close frriend, the far-right Polish MEP, Dominik Tarczyński.
Though not directly organised by POSK, the Bąkiewicz event is due to take place in their multimedia room, which can be rented out by members.
In a previous statement given to Searchlight, the centre’s spokesperson confirmed that the Association for Independent Thought has been using POSK premises for ‘nigh on two decades’.
Solidarity
The Association’s chair, Elżbieta Listoś, is a former Solidarność (Solidarity) activist from Lublin, Poland. She has been living in London since the mid-90s and has organised events for the UK’s Polish community for several decades.
Stanisław Michalkiewicz, invited to host a talk in late January 2026, is associated with Radio Maryja, a Polish Catholic radio station.
He knows chairperson Elżbieta Listoś personally – they come from the same parish in Lublin and Michalkiewicz’s parents taught Listoś at school.
In June 2025, historian Ewa Kurek gave a talk about the Russia/Ukraine war.
Kurek is also associated with the far-right and her work on the history of Jews in Poland is criticised as being revisionist and antisemitic.
She and Listoś both went to the Catholic University of Lublin and both were involved with the local chapter of NSZZ Solidarność.
Bąkiewicz is a key figure in Poland’s far-right, traditional Catholic sphere, and prefers to attend mass in Latin rather than Polish.
Non-partisan?
POSK itself does not host overtly political events, yet rarely intervenes when their spaces are rented for gatherings.
In a statement to Searchlight regarding Michalkiewicz’s talk, the centre’s spokesperson stressed that they are ‘not supportive of cancel culture’ and are aware that ‘there is a wide spectrum of opinions that are common to the Polish community in this country’.
However, POSK has previously cancelled an event hosted by the Association due to a controversial speaker.
In March 2023, the centre stated on X, ‘We would like to inform you that the planned lecture by Dr. Leszek Sykulski, organized by the Independent Thought Circle, will not take place at the Polish Social and Cultural Center.’
Redraw line
Sykulski is a political scientist who advocates for cooperation between Poland and Russia; his initiative, the ‘Polish Anti-War Movement’, opposes Poland giving military or financial aid to Ukraine.
Though POSK disagrees with ‘cancel culture’, the cancelling of Sykulski’s event shows that there is in fact a line – but xenophobia and antisemitism seemingly do not seem to cross it.
Given the centre’s commitment to serving an immigrant community at a time of increasing far-right sentiment across Europe, perhaps it is time the line is redrawn.
