Representatives of national and ethnic minorities organisations have called on Polish authorities to tackle the rising wave of xenophobia and violence based on nationality, race and religion.

“We are a country with a long and proud tradition of freedom and tolerance, but we are becoming a state that the world and its own national minorities perceive as increasingly xenophobic,” minority representatives wrote in their statement.

The organisations also pointed to many manifestations of anti-Semitism that appeared during the passage of the so-called Holocaust Law.