Grzegorz Braun, leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown party, took part in a Polish identity march on Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius on Saturday.
Braun spent time at a café near the parliament, Seimas, before the event and later joined the rear of the procession with party colleagues after the main column of marchers had passed.
He described the event as a “beautiful Polish march” marking Poland’s Flag Day and said he had visited Vilnius many times in the past while working as a documentary filmmaker on Lithuanian and Polish history.
Braun also criticised political leadership in both Lithuania and Poland, claiming that authorities in Vilnius and Warsaw were encouraging war in Ukraine against the interests of their populations.
“Both Vilnius and Warsaw are inciting war, which is certainly not in the interest of honest Poles and Lithuanians,” he told LRT. “I, meanwhile, incite peace; I call for de-escalation, not escalation, because we cannot allow our nations to be pushed into conflict.”
He added that the current political situation does not meet the expectations of either nation.
Braun did not specify who initiated his visit, saying only that the invitation came from his inner circle.
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas, of the conservative TS-LKD party, had previously opposed the visit by Braun and his associates, citing their EU-sceptic and anti-Ukrainian views.
City authorities denied permission for a separate event at the Adam Mickiewicz Monument, but the march along Gedimino Avenue, organised by the Association of Poles in Lithuania, went ahead.
Lithuania’s State Security Department said it had no information indicating a direct threat posed by Braun’s presence in the country but noted that his statements could be incompatible with Lithuania’s national security interests.
A planned meeting involving Braun in Vilnius was also cancelled after the Vilnius Centre of Culture and Spirituality declined to provide premises upon learning the nature of the event.
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