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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland has asked the European Parliament to strip Polish far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun of legal immunity to face charges for alleged anti-Jewish, anti-LGBT+ and anti-Ukrainian crimes committed during and after his recent presidential election campaign.
The development marks the latest in a series of legal troubles for Braun, who was already earlier this year stripped of immunity to face charges for various other alleged crimes, including attacking a Jewish religious celebration in Poland’s parliament.
Prokurator Generalny Adam Bodnar przekazał dzisiaj do Przewodniczącej Parlamentu Europejskiego Roberty Metsoli wniosek o wyrażenie przez Parlament Europejski zgody na pociągnięcie europosła Grzegorza Brauna do odpowiedzialności karnej. ⬇️https://t.co/miCVEaPckm
— Prokuratura (@PK_GOV_PL) July 17, 2025
On Thursday, Adam Bodnar, who serves as justice minister and prosecutor general, submitted a request to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to allow Polish prosecutors to bring proceedings against Braun over four alleged crimes.
One of them relates to the theft of a Ukrainian flag displayed outside the town hall in Biała Podlaska during one of Braun’s campaign events while he was standing for the presidency. He eventually finished fourth in the election, obtaining 6.3% of the vote.
A second charge relates to the theft of an EU flag displayed in the offices of the industry ministry in Katowice. After removing it, Braun wiped his shoes on it before setting it on fire.
Grzegorz Braun podpalił flagę Unii Europejskiej
Czytaj więcej… ➡️ https://t.co/UXQJ7F7p2X pic.twitter.com/vzWITITPKz
— tvp.info 🇵🇱 (@tvp_info) May 6, 2025
Another charge is for criminal defamation in relation to Braun’s remarks during a televised election debate where he criticised the annual campaign in Warsaw to honour the Jewish ghetto uprising during the Second World War.
Braun declared that paper daffodils distributed to commemorate the day are “symbols of shame”. During the same debate, he also warned about the “Judaisation” of Poland, saying that “Jews have far too much say in Polish affairs”.
Finally, prosecutors want to charge Braun over the destruction in June of an exhibition about LGBT+ people that was being displayed in the Polish parliament.
That followed an earlier incident in March in which he had similarly vandalised another LGBT+ exhibition. Poland has already previously requested that Braun’s immunity be lifted to face charges for that previous incident.
Far-right politician Grzegorz Braun, who finished fourth in Poland’s recent presidential election, has been presented by prosecutors with seven sets of charges relating to four incidents, including his attack on a Jewish religious celebration in parliament https://t.co/BKiF2oZMiS
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 4, 2025
“The excesses of Grzegorz Braun are a display of ostentatious disregard for legal and social norms as well as the democratic rules of the functioning of the state,” wrote Bodnar when announcing the latest request to the European Parliament. “These behaviours will not go unpunished.”
Bodnar noted that, in total, Braun is now facing charges for 17 criminal offences. The latest four crimes that he is accused of all carry potential prison sentences – of up to five years in the case of destruction of property.
Braun is also currently under investigation in Poland for remarks that he made last week in which he declared that the gas chambers at Auschwitz are “fake” and that it is a “fact” that Jews have committed ritual slaughter of Christians.
Far-right leader Grzegorz Braun says the gas chambers at Auschwitz are “fake” and it is a “fact” that Jews have committed ritual murder.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether he violated Poland's law against denying Nazi crimes https://t.co/7UUKzH5ndG
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 10, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: European Union 2025
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
