Nawrocki: Poland backs Ukraine, but not Banderite symbols
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said supporting Ukraine is in his country's strategic interest, but he also referenced Ukrainian nationalist symbols associated with Stepan Bandera, suggesting Poland is entitled to set conditions on that support.
Nawrocki made the remarks during a speech marking the first anniversary of his presidency, according to Polish outlets Wiadomości and Dziennik.
Nawrocki stressed that Poland has an interest in Ukrainian forces keeping Russia "as far from Poland as possible."
"Let them destroy the 'Soviets' who attacked them there — that doesn't upset us Poles at all. On that, they can always count on our help, because wherever the Moskals are being beaten, Poland helps — even if it's not directly involved in this war," he said, using a derogatory term for Russians.
At the same time, Nawrocki said, support for Ukraine should come alongside the fulfillment of Polish interests regarding national symbols and historical disputes — "so that Band*rite flags don't fly in Warsaw and in Poland," as he put it, referring to symbols associated with followers of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera.
"We can help, but we can also make demands," the Polish president declared.
Audience members reportedly began chanting "This is Poland" and applauding after his remarks.
Nawrocki's comments come amid months of tension between Poland and Ukraine, which began after Warsaw reacted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to award a Special Operations Forces unit the honorary title "Heroes of The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was a nationalist partisan military organization formed in October 1942 by the Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B). It fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, engaging in guerrilla warfare against Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Polish underground forces.UPA."
The move sparked significant backlash in Poland, which holds the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles during the Volhynia tragedy. The dispute culminated in Nawrocki's decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland's highest honor, which then-President Andrzej Duda had awarded him in 2023.
In a show of support for Zelenskyy, several Ukrainian officials announced they were renouncing their own Polish honors; some Polish officials responded in kind by renouncing Ukrainian awards.
The dispute has fueled a rise in anti-Ukrainian rhetoric among some Polish politicians, some of whom have called for an end to military aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, physical attacks on Ukrainians across Poland have become more frequent, as have attacks on Poles mistaken for Ukrainians by their compatriots.