After a number of Ukrainians were arrested in Poland for showcasing the red-and-black symbols of war criminal Stepan Bandera, including Bandera-inspired flags, Poland’s president now wants to ban them, as Nazi and Soviet communism symbols already are, in the criminal code.
Kyiv has reacted with anger; however, Law and Justice (PIS) MP Radosław Fogiel said Kyiv’s response is nothing more than “saber rattling.”
He now backs President Karol Nawrocki, who announced new legislation aimed at equating the Bandera symbol with Nazi and communist symbols, which are banned in Poland.
The move comes after Ukrainians displayed Bandera flags in Poland earlier this month at a concert by Belarusian rapper Max Korzh at the National Stadium in Warsaw. During the performance, fans from Ukraine unfurled the UPA flag.
“In order to eliminate Russian propaganda and put Polish-Ukrainian relations on the right track, based on real partnership and respect, we should also clearly say “stop Banderism” and equate the Banderite symbol in the penal code with symbols that correspond to German National Socialism, commonly called Nazism, and Soviet communism, as well as make corrections to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance in relation to the crimes of the OUN-UPA,” Nawrocki said on Monday.
Stepan Bandera is glorified by many Ukrainian nationalists and reviled by Poles. He led Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War, and an army created by his militant party slaughtered 100,000 Polish civilians during the Volhynian massacre.
Radosław Fogiel commented on the president’s activity on Polsat News. The politician admitted that Polish-Ukrainian relations are no longer as good as they were a few years ago, and that this is not Poland’s fault.
“Our Ukrainian partners must understand that partnership should be the foundation of mutual relations,” he said. Fogiel added that warnings coming from Ukraine regarding a possible ban on the use of Bandera symbolism are “saber rattling by Kyiv.”
Radosław Fogiel stated that “Poland has shown great patience” regarding the commemoration of the victims of the Volhynian massacre, while the Ukrainian side has long avoided the topic.
“I understand that the situation was different in the first months of the war, but today there is nothing to prevent us from addressing this issue,” he said.
The PiS MP also noted that for years, Ukraine had assured that the issue of Bandera symbolism was marginal, and that black-and-red flags were merely rare grassroots initiatives, unrelated to state policy.
“So, why such murmurs from Kyiv?” he asked.
