WARSAW, Poland (AP) — British musician Sting interrupted a concert in Warsaw on Saturday night to warn his audience that democracy is under attack around the world and to denounce the war in Ukraine as “an absurdity based on a lie”.
He asked a popular Polish actor, Maciej Stuhr, to take the stage to translate his warning that democracy “is in serious danger of being lost if we do not defend it”.
“The alternative to democracy is a prison, a prison of the mind. The alternative to democracy is violence, oppression, imprisonment and silence,” Sting said, then ran his hand across his throat in a throat-slitting gesture.
The 70-year-old delivered his message in a country bordering Ukraine, where Russia launched its February 24 invasion that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. Poland has become the refuge for more Ukrainians than any other country.
“The war in Ukraine is an absurdity based on a lie. If we swallow that lie, the lie will eat us,” Sting said. It appeared to refer to justifications Russia has tried to give for its invasion, including a Russian claim that it seeks to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, a republic led by a Jewish president.
Those in the audience at the National Stadium in Warsaw would also have understood a reference to their country.
Sting drew a standing ovation especially when he said that democracy is a messy and frustrating thing “but it’s still worth fighting for.”
Poland’s populist government is often accused by the European Union and human rights groups of eroding democratic norms with its efforts to strengthen control over the courts and media, curtail women’s reproductive rights and engage in anti-abortion rhetoric. LGBTQ.
After his speech he performed ‘Fragile’, the lyrics of which include the words that ‘nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could’.
