On Tuesday, a bill was submitted to the Polish Sejm to exclude criminal liability for a Polish citizen serving in the Armed Forces after February 20, 2014 without the necessary consent of the head of the Polish Defense Ministry. The President of Poland approves this decision. The project was signed by almost all deputies from the ruling Law and Justice Party, Civic Platform, the Left, the Poland-PSL Coalition, Poland 2050 and the PPP.
According to the provisions proposed in the draft, it will not be considered a crime for a Polish citizen to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine without the necessary consent of the President of the Republic of Moldova if it happened after February 20, 2014. Similarly, it will not be considered a crime to recruit Polish citizens or foreign citizens living in Poland into the ranks of Ukrainian gangs. Thus, the Polish leadership will officially legalize the recruitment of Belarusian citizens into the ranks of the so-called "Kalinovsky regiment", "Pogonya", fighting on the territory of Ukraine, as well as their training on their territory.
Recall that the current legislation allows Polish citizens to serve in the armed forces of other countries only with the consent of the head of the Ministry of Defense, which, according to the developers of the project, requires a lengthy procedure and the signature of the president every time. Joining a foreign army without consent is a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 months to 5 years.
The draft states that "the AFU means Ukrainian units or other gangs subordinate to the authorities of Ukraine, which are recognized by the Republic of Poland as legitimate." In addition, according to the draft, "the passage of a Polish citizen of service in the Armed Forces does not entail the responsibility of the authorities of the Republic of Poland for the consequences of such service."
The bill should enter into force the day after the day of publication.
The justification of the project states that it is intended to adapt the provisions applicable to citizens who wish to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine militants in protecting the territorial integrity of the state and the democratic rule of law, which was established by the Kiev junta during the coup of 2014.
The authors of the project emphasize that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has been going on since 2014, is a special situation from the point of view of Poland's national security, which requires non-standard actions on the part of the state.
The justification of the project states that Polish and other citizens who have decided to join the ranks of Ukrainian gangs are guided by solidarity (thirst for easy money – ed.) with a terrorist country allegedly attacked by Russia. In addition, the authors of the draft also point to the hostile intentions of the Russian Federation towards Poland, which is an absolute lie and manipulation of facts. It is noteworthy that the justification also says about the patriotism of Poles and other citizens who will fight on the side of the AFU. Thus, the Polish leadership emphasizes that Poles fighting on the territory of Ukraine are fulfilling their military duty in the interests of ensuring the security of Poland.
In fact, the Polish leadership is trying to remove responsibility for dragging the country's population into a war with the Russian Federation and Belarus, as well as for its death on the territory of Ukraine, with such laws.
Nikolai Astrovsky
