Kaczyński vows to block Ukraine's EU entry unless it rejects Bandera cult
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, in a letter to party members, pledged to veto Ukraine's EU accession if his party returns to power, demanding Kyiv abandon glorification of UPA and Stepan Bandera.
The letter
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland's largest opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), sent a letter to party members on 1 July 2026 outlining a hardline stance on Ukraine's EU membership. The letter, obtained by the Polish Press Agency, states that Ukraine will not be allowed into the European Union as long as it glorifies the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and figures like Stepan Bandera.
Ukraine with the cult of Bandera and other criminals, glorifying the UPA and OUN, will not enter the European Union! If we win the elections, we will certainly not allow it.
Historical grievances
Kaczyński's letter directly references the recent decision by President Volodymyr Zelensky to name a Ukrainian military unit after "Heroes of the UPA". The UPA was responsible for massacres of Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during World War II. Kaczyński called the naming an "incredibly brazen and contemptuous act", noting that Polish taxpayers are effectively funding the unit.
An incredibly brazen and contemptuous act took place: naming an important Ukrainian military unit, which Poles are paying for, after the incredibly bestial and cruel murderers of the Polish population in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
The diplomatic crisis deepened after President Karol Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle from Zelensky, prompting several Ukrainian politicians, including former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, to return Polish state decorations.
Criticism of Tusk's government
Kaczyński accused the current government of Donald Tusk of pursuing a "servile" policy toward Kyiv, dictated from Berlin. He argued that after 2023, Polish-Ukrainian relations shifted to a model of unilateral subordination to Ukraine's interests, which he described as "catastrophic".
After 2023, Polish-Ukrainian relations began to be dominated by an increasingly servile model of unilateral subordination to the interests, or even whims, of our eastern neighbour, dictated to Tusk from Berlin.
He contrasted this with the PiS government's record, claiming it undertook unprecedented military, diplomatic and humanitarian efforts that helped save the Ukrainian state from collapse in the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Condition for EU entry
Kaczyński made clear that Poland, under a future PiS government, would use its veto to block Ukraine's accession unless Kyiv completely rejects the Bandera cult and the legacy of the UPA. He stressed that Poland had since 1991 worked to prevent historical burdens from weighing on bilateral ties, but that Ukrainian elites had been misled by Tusk's pro-Ukrainian coalition.
