Polish lawmakers have signed a draft resolution that would grant amnesty to Polish citizens who illegally joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to fight Russian forces in Eastern Europe since 2014.
Poles are prohibited from serving in foreign armed forces without having gone through the long and arduous process of getting a permit from the Ministry of Defence. Those who have served in foreign armed forces face a penalty of three months to five years in prison.
But the members from the governing coalition and the opposition in parliament want to make an exception for Polish citizens who joined or led enlistment in the Ukrainian army after 20 February 2014, according to a draft resolution presented on Tuesday.
“The purpose of the proposed law is to adapt the existing regulations on undertaking military service in the armed formations of foreign states to the specific situation related to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 20 February 2014, with a significant expansion of the Russian side’s actions after 24 February 2022,” according to the draft resolution’s explanatory memorandum.
“This necessity arises from the need to adjust the legal conditions applicable to Polish citizens wishing to assist the Armed Forces of Ukraine in defending the territorial integrity and the democratic legal order of the Ukrainian state, as well as to counter the aggressive Russian policy, which violates the principles of international law, contained, inter alia, in the Charter of the United Nations,” it also states.
Polish citizens deciding to join the Ukrainian army are motivated by solidarity with a country innocently attacked by an aggressor who does not conceal hostile intentions also towards Poland, as well as by patriotism, thus acting for the security of Poland, it adds.
The draft resolution has been signed by representatives of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party and opposition parties: Civic Coalition, The Left, Polish Coalition-PSL, Poland 2050 and the Polish Socialist Party, and is expected to enter into force on the day it is voted on.
(Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
