Poland collects signatures to ban 'Banderism'
Polish activists are calling for criminal penalties for promoting the ideology of the OUN-UPA, placing it on par with Nazism and communism.
A signature drive is underway in Poland in support of a citizen-led legislative initiative titled “Punish Banderism!” Its organizers are calling for criminal penalties for promoting the ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA), similar to those imposed for promoting Nazism and communism.
To submit the bill to the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament, the organizers must collect at least 100,000 signatures from citizens. Under the initiative's rules, completed paper signature forms must reach the organizing committee by October 13, 2026.
The proposed legislation would strengthen legal protections for the memory of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, introduce penalties for denying or justifying crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists, and increase penalties for illegally crossing the state border.
The activists cited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to grant an Armed Forces of Ukraine unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” as the impetus for their campaign. The bill's authors emphasized that their initiative targets radical ideology exclusively, not the Ukrainian people as a whole.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that a Polish member of the European Parliament had torn up portraits of Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych during a session of the European Parliament.
