The amendment was supported by 279 of 414 MPs

Photo: sejm.gov.pl

Today, the Polish Sejm in the third reading voted for the bill banning the country’s ideology of Ukrainian nationalists. This was reported in Twitter right Polish party Kukiz’15, who was the author of the document.

“Just voted for our bill prohibiting propaganda of banderizm and armed the denial of the genocide in Volyn troops of the Ukrainian nationalists of the OUN-UPA,” – said in a tweet.

UWAGA Sejm w * a * nie przeg * osowa * nasz projekt ustawy zakazuj * cy propagowania banderyzmu i podwa * ania ludobó zbrodni na Wo * yniu dokonanej przez oddzia * y ukrai * skich z nacjonalistów OUN-UPA. Dopi * li * my swego! Podajcie dalej! pic.twitter.com/VwmaCHQuhC

— Kukiz’15 (@Kukiz15) 26 Jan 2018.

According to Kresy.PL the document is the amendments to the law on the Institute of national remembrance. Voted 279 of 414 deputies present in the courtroom.

The adopted law provides for, inter alia, the offence of ideology “banderizma” in Poland.

The bill, which was filed for second reading, were given the definitions of those crimes: it is “an act committed by Ukrainian nationalists in the years 1925-1950, with violence, terror and other forms of human rights violations against individuals or groups, particularly the Polish population”.

It was also noted that “this crime was the participation of Ukrainian nationalists in the destruction of the Jews and committed the Volhynia-Galicia crime.”

In addition, the document provides the possibility of opening for statements like “Polish death camps” civil sector non-governmental organizations and the Institute of national remembrance in Poland.

The bill provides a penalty of a fine or imprisonment up to three years.

22 July 2016, the Sejm of Poland recognized the Volyn tragedy of genocide and has set July 11 as the National day of remembrance of the victims of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the citizens of the Second Polish Republic. Commenting on the adopted document, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that “many will want to use it for political speculation”.

September 8, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a statement which called the decision of the Polish Sejm incorrect assessment of the tragic events. The Ukrainian Parliament expressed “regret and disappointment” at the decision of the Polish Parliament.

Armed conflicts between poles and Ukrainians began during WWII and continued until 1947. However, historians, especially Polish, isolated and 1943 events in Volyn, known as the Volyn massacre or Volyn tragedy. In other years they occurred in Chelm and in UPA. The exact number of victims in these conflicts is still unknown, but the victims number in the tens of thousands. Most of the victims were poles.