Polish president submits bill criminalizing denial of Volyn massacre

Polish President Karol Nawrocki introduced a bill on Sept. 29 criminalizing "false claims" about the Volyn massacre and historical crimes committed by certain Ukrainian groups during World War II.

The Volyn (Volhynian) massacres of 1943-1944 took place in the Nazi-occupied territory of what is now western Ukraine during World War II. Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) members killed at least tens of thousands of Poles, while thousands of Ukrainians were killed in retaliation.

The massacre remains one of the most contentious issues in present day Polish-Ukrainian relations.

The bill Nawrocki proposed on Sept. 29 makes it a crime to disseminate "false claims" about the Volyn massacres and World War II-era Ukrainian nationalist groups. It also equates UPA symbols with Nazi and Communist symbols in Poland's criminal code, extends the period needed to obtain Polish citizenship, and calls for harsher penalties for illegal border crossings.

Nawrocki first proposed these amendments a month ago after vetoing a bill extending support for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Nawrocki stipulated that benefits should only go to employed Ukrainians and tacked on the additional amendments about the border, history, and Ukrainian nationalism.

While parliament agreed to limit benefits to employed Ukrainians and passed a revised version of that bill, Nawrocki's other amendments were disregarded.

Their omission from the previous legislation required Nawrocki to reintroduce these "solutions," the Polish Presidential Office said.

A historian-turned-politician, Nawrocki has spoken out against Kyiv's EU and NATO aspirations, often drawing attention to past historical grievances. His narrow electoral victory in June 2025 heralded new challenges for Polish-Ukrainian relations.

While Nawrocki has maintained support for Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression, equating Ukrainian nationalism with Nazism is a recurring narrative in Kremlin propaganda.

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