“Banderite symbols in Poland’s public space are unacceptable,” said President Karol Nawrocki in an interview with Polsat News. The head of state praised the decision to deport more than 60 people who took part in an incident involving OUN-UPA flags. He also addressed the issue of general officer appointments planned for August 15.
The President’s Plans
During his conversation on Polsat News, the President of the Republic of Poland was asked about an incident that occurred during the concert of Belarusian rapper Max Korzh at Warsaw’s PGE National Stadium, where red-and-black OUN-UPA flags were visible:
“Of course, these events are scandalous. Even when I was President of the Institute of National Remembrance, I was involved in drafting an amendment to the Institute’s law to expand the list of prohibited symbols to include the red-and-black flag. This is something that needs to be done in Poland,”
Nawrocki stated.
The president emphasized:
“Banderite symbols in Poland’s public space, and even in Ukraine, they outrage me, though that is another state, are unacceptable in Poland’s public space. We should respond to such matters very firmly, simply expelling such people from Poland,”
he said.
Nawrocki stressed that historical education is also necessary:
“These were murderers, degenerates, we must also say it plainly, who were responsible for the deaths of around 120,000 of our fellow citizens, our ancestors,”
he said.
Later in the interview, the topic turned to general officer appointments in connection with the Polish Armed Forces Day:
“These discussions essentially took place yesterday and today. There is a sort of agreement regarding general appointments. These talks were led by the head of the National Security Bureau, Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz. This is very efficient cooperation with Polish officers and generals in mind, and good preparation for August 15,”
the president said.
The president also commented on relations with Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government:
“Real politics means that the Polish people elect their president, who currently has the freshest mandate and enjoys the greatest direct support from Polish voters, including for the purpose of telling Prime Minister Donald Tusk what he has failed to do over the past year and a half, despite his promises,”
he pointed out.
“Poles elect their president to exercise the prerogatives set out in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and to be their voice. If Prime Minister Tusk knows the Constitution of the Republic well and respects Polish democracy and the choice of over 10 million Poles, then this cooperation should be conducted on the terms set out by the will of the people and the Constitution. First, it would be appropriate for him to offer congratulations and come to the president for a discussion about Poland’s future,”
he said.
Nawrocki also addressed the so-called wind farm bill:
“The Prime Minister and the parliamentary majority want to blackmail not so much the president himself, but Polish women and men, by placing wind turbines closer to them,”
he said.
“I do not intend to submit to such blackmail, and I think Poles are too wise a nation to believe that Prime Minister Donald Tusk truly wants to lower electricity prices, when in fact the aim is to increase the influence of lobbying firms over our households,”
he added.