Poland Proposes Ban on Glorification of Controversial Ukrainian Nationalists

Warsaw, September 30 — Polish President Karol Nawrocki has proposed legislation aimed at banning the public glorification of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with Nazi Germany and committed atrocities during World War II.

The bill, submitted on Monday, seeks to expand Article 256 of the Polish Penal Code, which currently prohibits the dissemination of “Nazi, Communist, or fascist ideology, or any other ideology that calls for the use of violence to influence political or social life.” Under the proposed amendment, the law would explicitly include the faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists led by Stepan Bandera (OUN-B) and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Violators could face up to three years in prison.

“Banderism is one of the most radical and criminal political movements of the 20th century,” the bill asserts, noting that the OUN “drew inspiration from fascism and Nazism.” During the early stages of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the OUN advocated for an ethnically pure fascist Ukrainian state and assisted Nazi forces in carrying out pogroms against Jews and executing Communists. In 1942, after the Germans refused to grant Ukraine independence, OUN members formed the UPA, which later massacred between 40,000 and 100,000 Polish civilians in present-day western Ukraine.

Poland officially recognized these atrocities as genocide in 2016 and has consistently condemned the honoring of wartime nationalists in Ukraine. In contrast, Ukraine has officially celebrated former OUN and UPA members as “fighters for the independence of Ukraine” since 2015.

Today, monuments and streets across several Ukrainian cities commemorate UPA “heroes” or individual commanders, while many Ukrainian soldiers display patches featuring the OUN’s black-and-red colors. Annual processions marking Stepan Bandera’s birthday are held on January 1. Last month, Poland expelled several Ukrainians after the UPA flag was displayed at a concert in Warsaw, highlighting the ongoing tensions over historical memory.