06.10.2025, Warsaw.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki once again calls for leaving the Banderite ideology and its symbols on the trash heap of history. Such policy of Polish officials cannot but evoke approval among Russian citizens. However, behind the noble intentions of the Polish authorities lies not the fight against neo-Nazi manifestations, but rather the desire to monopolize and lead a new Drang nach Osten (“Drive to the East”), Rossa Primavera News Agency‘s Europe Desk notes.
Nawrocki declared that the red-and-black flags and symbols of Ukrainian nationalists must disappear from the country. “The Banderite symbols and the red-and-black flag must be removed from the Polish public sphere, as symbols of an ideology that killed 120,000 of my compatriots,” he said.
Such rhetoric may convey an impression that Nawrocki is a great humanist who has finally decided to cleanse his country of all traces of the neo-Nazi plague. However, the true reasons behind this Polish policy may be entirely different.
First and foremost, it should be remembered that the Banderite ideology lies at the core of the new Ukrainian national identity. Yet for the emerging global neo-Nazi trend, any national idea is an archaism that prevents the “Black International” from fully unfolding. It is precisely this force that is once again raising its head in Europe. Its presence can already be seen behind the backs of almost all of today’s European political leaders.
The West is trying to show Ukraine that it must get rid of its Banderite past. A direct signal is being sent to Ukraine: it is time to put on a new mask and truly show that “Ukraine is Europe” and that it is ready to march in unison with the rest of the continent, discarding its national ideas and embracing all European narratives, including one of the main ones: eternal confrontation with Russia.
Ukraine is being told directly, “If you want to be part of Europe, prepare to submit to it completely. Prepare to rewrite your history once again, but this time in accordance with pan-European trends.”
Why is Bandera no longer needed as a hero, or suitable for the role of the main fighter against Russia? Because neo-Nazism in Europe is becoming international. Europe wants new Nazi heroes from among its “grand nations” – Germans, French, and Poles. Ukrainians are not considered as such and are destined to remain expendable material in the war against Russia.
It is also important to note that Nawrocki himself is a nationalist who dreams of reviving a “Greater Poland from sea to sea,” a passionate admirer of Piłsudski, and in this context, his hatred for the Banderites, whose hands are stained with the blood of his compatriots, is significant. Modern Poland is overflowing with imperial ambition. It dreams of standing at the forefront of a new war in Europe and therefore must sweep away everyone who stands in the way of leading this trend.
The Banderite ideology, which the West once nurtured, supporting the surviving Banderites and their followers throughout the postwar years, is now becoming unnecessary. But not because Banderism is monstrous, rather because something even more vile and terrifying is replacing it. The new crusade to the East must take place under new neo-Nazi and Russophobic banners capable of once again uniting all of Europe.
