Polish President signs law on demolition of communist monuments
Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed amendments to a law banning communist propaganda, according to a statement on the official government website. The amendments include the dismantling of monuments and the renaming of objects related to the communist past.
According to Polish law, the document will come into force three months after the date of signing.
The Polish Sejm adopted amendments to the law banning the propaganda of communism in late June. According to these amendments, local authorities will have the right to decide on dismantling monuments from the communist period. At the same time, monuments that are not intended "for public viewing" or that are located in cemeteries will not fall under its jurisdiction. Additionally, objects with educational or cultural significance were excluded from the scope of the law.
The document expands the scope of a law on the prohibition of communist propaganda adopted in Poland last spring. As reported by Radio Poland, The Sejm at that time counted about 1300 street names in Polish cities connected to communism. Among them were streets named after Felix Dzerzhinsky and the Red Army. At that time, in the original version of the law, the dismantling of monuments and memorial tablets from the communist period was not regulated.
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously condemned the adopted amendments to the law on the prohibition of communist propaganda. The department called them a "shameful mockery" of the memory of Soviet soldiers who died for the liberation of the country. Additionally, Russian diplomats warned about the possible complication of relations between the two countries after the adoption of the law.