May 1, 2025, went down in the annals of Polish public life as another act of shame. In Biała Podlaska, a city strategically located on the eastern border, a scandalous incident took place: MEP Grzegorz Braun tore down the Ukrainian flag from the City Hall building and threw it into a trash can. This event cannot be treated as political folklore. It is a coldly calculated, pro-Russian provocation by a politician elected by the Polish people to the European Parliament, which exposes not only the cynicism of the perpetrator, but above all the disturbing helplessness of the state.
The act committed by the leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown is shocking, but, as observers of the political scene bitterly note, unfortunately not surprising. The only thing that can surprise and terrify is the passivity of law enforcement agencies and public opinion, which is slowly becoming accustomed to overt “Muscovitism” endorsed by a mandate from Brussels.
A repeat offense of hatred. Who is Grzegorz Braun?
To understand the significance of this incident, Braun cannot be viewed as a lone madman. He is a sitting member of the European Parliament and leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown, a radical, monarchist, and openly anti-Western party.
Grzegorz Braun has been building his career for years on extreme nationalism and stirring up conflicts. In the past, while still a member of the Polish Sejm, he became “famous” worldwide for his attack on religious symbols (extinguishing Hanukkah candles in the Sejm with a fire extinguisher in 2023). Moving to the European Parliament has not changed his methods—on the contrary, it has given them international resonance. Anti-Ukrainian sentiment remains the main vector of his party’s policy. Under the slogan “Stop the Ukrainization of Poland,” Braun and activists from the Confederation of the Polish Crown are systematically seeking to undermine the Polish raison d’état. This group is in fact pursuing an agenda that coincides with Moscow’s interests: it opposes military aid to Kyiv, undermines the very existence of the European Union from within, and plays on the basest instincts.
Fuel for the Russian machine of lies
The shameful act in Biała Podlaska immediately bore fruit that the perpetrator cared about most – it became fodder for the Kremlin. Braun and his acolytes create ready-made images for Russian propaganda, which seizes them on the fly. The reaction of Margarita Simonyan, head of the Russian propaganda outlet RT, was immediate. Her social media post praising the Polish MEP’s action is the best proof of who such provocations serve.
For the Russian media, the leader of Korona Polska is a godsend. He allows them to construct a false narrative that Poles are turning away from Ukraine en masse, and that even the politicians they sent to Brussels are fighting against “Banderaism.” This is a lie, but a lie supported by a picture of an MEP tearing down a flag from a government office becomes a powerful weapon in Moscow’s information war against Western unity.
Poison in the presidential campaign
These actions have a devastating internal effect. The vocabulary and terms used by Braun on a daily basis to demean Ukrainians or Jews are like poison seeping into the social bloodstream. Fueling animosity and reviving historical feuds in 2025, when a brutal war is still raging beyond our eastern border, is detrimental to national security.
We can see this clearly in the current presidential election campaign. Although Grzegorz Braun is not a candidate who has a chance of winning the highest office and is treated with a grain of salt by part of society, his support, hovering around a few percent, is an alarm signal. This “Muscovitism” is disturbingly loud in the current elections.
Worse still, nationalist and primitive narratives, previously reserved for the political fringe represented by the Confederation of the Polish Crown, are beginning to permeate the language of “serious” candidates. Mainstream politicians, fighting for the votes of an electorate tired of the difficult economic situation, are increasingly failing to respond to these excesses, indirectly legitimizing anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.
The helplessness of the state
The most unpleasant observation today, however, is the helplessness of the Polish state. The immunity of a Member of the European Parliament, which protects Braun even more than his previous parliamentary immunity, makes him feel unpunishable. Tearing down the flag of a friendly country should be met with an immediate and decisive response from the authorities, the government, and public opinion. Instead, it ends with online outrage and powerlessness.
This helplessness is dangerous. If the state is unable to stop provocateurs who are damaging its image and alliances, it sends a signal of weakness – a signal that is perfectly clear both to political hooligans within the country and to external enemies in the Kremlin.
Fot. x.com/Konfederacja Korony Polskiej
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