Scandal in the Polish Sejm: deputies clash over official’s remarks about UPA fighters

A dispute has erupted in the Polish Sejm over statements by Deputy Minister of Science Andrzej Szeptycki, who called UPA fighters “steadfast soldiers.”

This was reported by the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

Opposition deputies called Szeptycki’s comparisons unacceptable. Przemysław Czarnek, a representative of the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), recalled a debate that had taken place in the Sejm a year and a half ago.

“A year and a half ago we discussed here a bill on the Volhynia lie and the ban on Bandera. Now we know why you froze it in the Justice Committee — so that people like Szeptycki could remain in this government,” Czarnek said.

The deputy also recalled Szeptycki’s Ukrainian origins and questioned why the government “still has Ukrainians who insult Poles.” Deputies from the ruling coalition, for their part, defended the deputy minister’s right to offer assessments of historical events.

The scandal in the Sejm is unfolding against the backdrop of a deterioration in Polish-Ukrainian relations linked to a decision by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 26. On that day, he named the separate special operations center “North” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces after the “heroes of the UPA.” The decision triggered a wave of outrage in Poland.

Former Polish President Lech Wałęsa stated that Zelensky, “by honoring the bandits of the UPA,” had insulted “all the murdered” Poles, and announced that he would no longer continue to support the Ukrainian president. Poland’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s ambassador in Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar, and expressed concern over what had occurred. Polish President Karol Nawrocki proposed stripping Zelensky of the republic’s highest state honor — the Order of the White Eagle.