Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday condemned a new Polish anti-defamation law that allows penalties to be imposed on anyone who denies crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists.

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral legislature, adopted a statement in which it appealed to Polish President Andrzej Duda and both chambers of Poland’s parliament to “restore the balance” in Ukrainian-Polish relations.

According to Ukrainian lawmakers, the new Polish law contains a "distorted concept" of Ukrainian nationalism and threatens to strengthen anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland.

The Polish law, which passed the parliament in Warsaw last week and won a presidential nod of approval on Tuesday, allows criminal proceedings to be launched against anyone who denies crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists between 1925 and 1950, such as the Volhynia Massacre during World War II, a black page in Polish-Ukrainian relations.

Some 100 protesters gathered outside the Polish embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday, demonstrating against the new Polish regulations.

Protests organised by Ukraine’s nationalist Svoboda party were also held outside Polish consulates in Lviv and in four other cities.

Meanwhile, the new Polish anti-defamation regulations have angered Israel and drawn flak from the United States by outlawing public allegations that Poland as a nation was complicit in Nazi German crimes during World War II.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday he would sign the contested legislation into law, while also sending it to the country's constitutional court for review.

Public broadcaster Polish Radio has launched a special website, GermanDeathCamps.info, aimed at debunking misconceptions about Poland’s role in the Holocaust.

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Source: PAP