On August 25, the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, announced a legislative initiative, which provides for amendments to the Criminal Code to equate the “Bander symbol” to Nazi and Communist. This is reported by Wirtualna Polska.
During the press briefing, Nawrocki said that his proposal has a “key component for Poles”:
“In order to eliminate Russian propaganda and build Polish-Ukrainian relations on the basis of true partnership and mutual respect and sensitivity, I believe that we should enshrine an unambiguous slogan in the draft law: “stop banderism”. And also in the Criminal Code – to equate the Bander symbol with symbols that correspond to German national socialism, commonly known as Nazism, Soviet communism, and to amend the law on the Institute of National Remembrance – the Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish People in the part relating to OUN-UPA crimes.
Karol Nawrocki emphasized that such steps correspond to the interests of Polish society and are aimed at maintaining good relations with Ukraine, which should be based on justice, truth and countering Russian propaganda. Navrotskyi also reported that the presidential bill provides for an increase in the period required for acquiring citizenship from three to ten years, as well as an increase in the penalty for illegal border crossing to five years in prison.
At the same time, what is specifically meant by the “Bander symbol” is not specified. Previously, Navrotskyi had already called on the Seimas to adopt a ban on the Bandera flag. in Poland after the incidents that occurred during the concert of Belarusian rapper Max Korzh in Warsaw.
