Graphic: KAPS Architekci

Demonstrations are set to take place over the weekend in Warsaw over the construction of a new mosque for the Muslim faithful in Poland.

The Future of Europe Association is firmly against the construction of the mosque and Islamic cultural centre, furthermore believing that the mosque’s investor, the Polish League of Muslims, is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamist movement.

“The Polish League of Muslims is an organisation founded by Polish citizens and is officially registered,” Boguslaw Zadorski, director of the Ibn Khaldun Institute in Warsaw and lecturer at Collegium Civitas, has stated, adding that “no-one has ever accused the organisation of breaking Polish law, and saying that the League is connected with the Muslim Brotherhood is tantamount to slander.”

Such words may fall on deaf ears, however, as news of the protests are making fast ground in various nationalist internet forums, with some comments heralding back to King Jan III Sobieski’s victory over the Ottomans at the Siege of Vienna in 1683.

The mosque is being legally constructed according to planning permission granted by Warsaw City Council. “All the decisions and agreements for this investment were completed long ago,” Tomasz Andryszczyk from the Council has commented, adding that “it would be a shame if this building is surrounded by problems, especially as it is of a religious character.”

The number of Muslims in Poland is estimated at around 40,000 faithful, with around 10-13,000 living in Warsaw. There are currently three mosques in the entire country: in the Baltic city of Gdansk, as well as two wooden mosques that serve the Tatar population in north-eastern Poland. There is also a prayer room in Poland’s capital. (jb)

Related story:

Biggest mosque in Poland to be built in Warsaw , thenews.pl 25.02.2010