Poland wants to equate "OUN and UIA propaganda" with Nazism and Communism
A bill has been introduced in the Polish Sejm that proposes to criminalize the propaganda of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) of Stepan Bandera's faction and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA). The same is already provided for propaganda of Nazism and Communism.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and People`s Deputy from the European Solidarity party, Volodymyr Viatrovych.
"Polish politicians have decided to take a 'step forward' in response to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's statement. Yesterday, a bill was submitted to the Sejm amending the law on the Institute of National Remembrance - the Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish People and the Criminal Code," he wrote.
The People`s Deputy added that the Polish Criminal Code has an article that provides for punishment for public propaganda of Nazism, communism, fascism or other totalitarian regimes.
What is proposed in the bill?
According to the website of the Polish Sejm, the document was submitted for consideration by deputies from the Law and Justice party.
The bill proposes changes to the Criminal Code, which would add a reference to the OUN and UIA to the article on punishment for Nazi, communist, and fascist ideology.
The new version should provide for the same punishment for propaganda of an ideology"calling for the use of violence to influence political or social life, in particular the ideology of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists of the Bandera faction (OUN-B) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA), which led to genocide in Volyn and neighbouring regions in 1943-1945".
The bill states that the purpose of such changes is to "prevent the spread of lies about the crime of genocide in Volyn and neighbouring regions within the scope of Polish law, as well as to stop the glorification of the ideology of the Bandera Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA)."
The document also considers it "outrageous, shocking and harmful" that in Poland "speeches are made and songs are sung praising criminals from the OUN-B and UPA, in particular Stepan Bandera".
According to the Polish MPs, this is allegedly even more outrageous, as "Poles, including the descendants of those brutally murdered in Volyn, Lublin and other regions, have given shelter to millions of refugees fleeing death from Russian bombs and missiles, as well as from the brutal behaviour of Putin's troops".
The issue of exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy
As reported, in September, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that without resolving the issue of exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, Ukraine cannot dream of joining the EU. At the same time, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policy.
During his visit to Warsaw on October 1, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine is ready to discuss with Poland controversial issues of common history, including the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.
On October 2, the UINR stated that they plan to conduct search operations for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that it remains open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for the places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in the restoration and preservation of places of memory have not been in place for a long time.
Drobovych believes that Ukrainian and Polish officials need to finally move to constructive action "in the problematic issues of exhumation and burials" and proposed a "road map".
On October 4, Poland's Defense Minister reiterated his intention to block Ukraine's accession to the EU until the issue of exhumation and commemoration of the victims of the Volyn tragedy is resolved.
On 26 November, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, after a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, said that Kyiv had assured him that there were no obstacles to the search and exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine.
