Navrotsky called for a ban on the red-and-black flag in Poland
Polish President Karol Nawrocki called for the passage of a law banning the use of the red-and-black OUN-UPA flag in the country. He made this statement during events marking the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Volhynia Tragedy.
The Polish leader stated that he considers this symbolism unacceptable, while emphasizing that his criticism is directed not against the Ukrainian people, but against the ideology he associates with the events of the Volhynia tragedy.
Karol Nawrocki made his statement during memorial events in the village of Radruzh, near the Polish-Ukrainian border. During his speech, he declared that he supports a legislative ban on the red-and-black OUN-UPA flag on Polish territory. “We do not want to see it in Poland—and I will do everything to ensure that it is not present in Poland. I believe that the Polish parliament will pass the relevant law,” said Nawrocki.
The Polish president also compared this flag to the symbols used by the German Nazis. “It is the same as the ‘Blut und Boden’ (‘Blood and Soil’) flag. That is what he meant, and behind it lay—and still lies—the entire ideology of Ukrainian nationalists who killed Polish women and children,” he stated.
At the same time, Navrotsky emphasized that he does not hold the entire Ukrainian people responsible for the events of the Volhynia tragedy. “I do not blame the entire Ukrainian people, but rather the Bandera ideology, those who killed, and those who are once again invoking the red-and-black flag in the 21st century,” the Polish president noted.
According to him, glorifying or justifying such events is unacceptable. “This cannot be accepted, because glorifying genocide or turning a blind eye to it is an invitation to a new genocide,” he stressed. During his speech, Navrotsky also drew a parallel between the tragedies of the past and Russia’s current war against Ukraine.
He mentioned Jadwiga, a 14-year-old Polish girl who died during the Volhynia tragedy, and noted that her death “is the same as the deaths of today’s 14-year-old Ukrainians at the hands of the Russian Federation’s thugs.”
The Polish president’s statement came on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Volhynia Tragedy, which is traditionally marked by memorial events and discussions about the complex chapters of Ukrainian-Polish history. The issue of historical memory remains one of the most sensitive in relations between the two countries, according to RMF24.
Przemysław Czarnek, the Law and Justice (PiS) party’s candidate for prime minister of Poland (PiS), Przemysław Czarnek, stated that his party will submit a draft resolution to the Sejm calling for Poland not to support Ukraine’s further progress toward European Union membership until the historical disputes surrounding the Volhynia tragedy are resolved.
As a reminder, the U.S. will provide Poland with a $2 billion loan to purchase weapons: F-35 fighter jets, Patriot air defense missile systems, and Abrams tanks.
Earlier, Poland signed an agreement with the U.S. for the delivery of 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, along with a logistics and training package, for a total of $10 billion.
