Madonna concert ‘anti-Polish provocation’ claims MP

photo - PAP/EPA/HERBERT P OCZERET

Stanisław Pięta, an MP for the Law and Justice (PiS) opposition party has written to sports minister Joanna Mucha in protest against the concert being staged at the new National Stadium on Wednesday.

"Veteran organisations, patriotic and Catholic movements express their outrage and opposition to the concert by Madonna Louise Ciccone, to be held at the National Stadium on August 1," Pięta writes.

The Warsaw Uprising began on 1 August 1944 and lasted 63 days before the Polish Home Army was crushed by German Nazi forces.

An estimated 200,000 Poles lost their lives in the ultimately doomed resistance and 1 August is marked every year by various ceremonies throughout the capital.

“The first day of August is a very important anniversary for Poles, and especially for the citizens of Warsaw. We have already collected several thousand signatures and issued dozens of calls in protest at the event,” the MPs letter continues.

The MP wrote to Minister of Sport Joanna Mucha as it was her ministry that granted permission for the concert to take place at the National Stadium, recently built for the Euro 2012 football championships.

MP Pięta says that Madonna, “ is known for her provocative, anti-Christian statements [and] insulting religious symbols” and her concert should not be staged at the National Stadium on such an important anniversary.

A web site, protestuj.pl, has been set up to protest against the concert.

In an attempt to appease the protesters, the Warsaw local authority and the Live Nation company which is staging the concert have agreed to screen a short film documenting the events of the Warsaw Uprising before Madonna comes on stage. (pg)