Polish right-wing MPs appeal to Tusk for Independence Day march in Lviv
Twenty-one Polish MPs from right and far-right parties, including Jarosław Kaczyński, Grzegorz Braun, and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, have signed an appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk calling for a "Polish Independence March" in Lviv on November 11, Poland's Independence Day. A Lviv civic group has called the initiative a political provocation, and the Ukrainian government has not yet commented.
Key points
- 21 Polish right-wing MPs signed an appeal to PM Donald Tusk proposing a "Polish Independence March" in Lviv on November 11.
- Signatories include PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, Grzegorz Braun (Konfederacja Korony Polskiej), and former PM Mateusz Morawiecki (Rozwój Plus).
- The appeal was signed by deputies from PiS, Konfederacja, Rozwój Plus, and Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, and is described as the first joint initiative of Poland's right and far-right parliamentary forces.
- The appeal calls on the Polish government to seek Ukrainian permission for the march as "a sign of remembrance and solidarity with Poles living in Ukraine."
- Vice-Marshal of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak (Konfederacja) said the idea "sounds quite strange" and argued the march should be in Kyiv, not Lviv, and addressed to Ukrainian authorities.
- The Lviv civic organization "Memory and Justice – Association of Descendants of Ukrainian Victims of Polish Repressions" called the appeal a political provocation and urged the Polish government to reject it.
- Polish prosecutors are investigating signatory Grzegorz Braun for damaging a UPA monument at a burial site of 41 UPA soldiers in Lublin Voivodeship.
Why it matters
The appeal is an unusual joint effort by Poland's right and far-right parties to stage a national-holiday demonstration in a Ukrainian city, touching on the politically sensitive UPA legacy at a time of strain in Polish-Ukrainian relations. It has already drawn strong criticism from Ukrainian civic groups and skepticism from within the signatory camp, and risks adding another layer of tension to the bilateral relationship.
What happened
Twenty-one Polish MPs from right and far-right parties signed an appeal addressed to Prime Minister Donald Tusk calling for a "Polish Independence March" in Lviv on November 11, Poland's Independence Day. The letter, drafted by PiS deputy Dariusz Matecki, was signed by representatives of Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, Konfederacja, Rozwój Plus, and Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, including PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, Grzegorz Braun, and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The signatories describe the proposed march as a sign of remembrance and solidarity with Poles living in Ukraine, and argue that Polish state assistance to that community is insufficient, pointing out that Polish local and state institutions help fund Ukrainian events on August 24, Ukraine's Independence Day. They call on the Polish government to approach the Ukrainian authorities for permission to hold the march through Lviv's streets. The initiative is described as the first joint action uniting Poland's right and ultra-right parliamentary forces.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language outlets frame the appeal as a provocative initiative directed at Ukraine. They highlight a statement by the Lviv civic organization "Memory and Justice – Association of Descendants of Ukrainian Victims of Polish Repressions," which called the march a political provocation unconnected to good-neighborly relations and urged the Polish government to reject it. Ukrainian coverage places the proposal in the broader context of Polish-Ukrainian historical disputes, including the UPA-related controversy that led Polish President Karol Nawrocki in June to strip President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, and the destruction of a UPA monument in Lublin Voivodeship by one of the signatories, Grzegorz Braun. As of reporting, the Ukrainian government had not commented on the initiative. One source suggested the idea could create additional tension in bilateral relations.
Where reporting differs
Sources disagree on the precise location of the UPA monument damaged by Grzegorz Braun. Some identify it as the village of Białystok in Hrubieszów County, while others place it in the neighboring Gmina Dołhobyczów; both locations are in Lublin Voivodeship.
Background
Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv have been strained by disputes over historical memory. On June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced he was stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in response to a Ukrainian decree naming a military unit after "UPA heroes"; Zelenskyy returned the order the following day, and the two met for more than an hour at the NATO summit on July 8. One of the appeal's signatories, Grzegorz Braun, is under investigation by Polish prosecutors for using a heavy tool to damage a stone obelisk at a burial site of 41 UPA soldiers in Lublin Voivodeship, an act Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said should lead to a criminal case. Mateusz Mazzini, a journalist for Gazeta Wyborcza and Polityka, has written that Polish public attitudes toward Ukrainians have shifted from the solidarity seen at the start of the full-scale invasion toward growing fatigue and distrust.