Warsaw authorities will work with traveling Russian football fans who want to march to celebrate their national holiday Tuesday despite problems with their application, city mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz said Friday.
Russia will play Poland in the city Tuesday, which doubles up as Russia Day, a holiday commemorating the end of the Soviet Union.
The Russians must apply for permission to march by Saturday, specifying the intended route and estimated number of participants of the march, but have so far only sent a letter to the city government saying that they want to march to the stadium where the match will be held.
"We must meet again to understand each other properly," said Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.
Ewa Gawor, head of the city security forces, said she was prepared to provide security.
Earlier, Gronkiewicz-Waltz had said that there are "unhealthy sentiments" around the planned procession, suggesting it may not be welcomed by locals.
Poland prime minster Donald Tusk has expressed his support for the event.
"I would with pleasure persuade Polish fans to take part in this march, because it is in fact the anniversary of the final burial of the Soviet Union," he said Friday.
Russia Day marks the 1990 signing of the Declaration of State Sovereignty, which proclaimed Russia's sovereignty as the Soviet Union collapsed.
