According to media reports, Polish President Karol Nawrocki has ordered the European Union flag removed from his office shortly after taking up the post, a move that represents his stance toward Brussels.
Reports in the Polish press said removing the EU flag was among Nawrocki’s first decisions after moving into the presidential palace.
Daily Gazeta Wyborcza, citing an anonymous source, said no formal order was issued, but Nawrocki’s action was taken as a signal by other presidential palace officials to do the same. Paweł Szefernaker, head of the president’s office, is also reported to have removed the flag from his workspace.
The absence of the EU symbol was noted during a cabinet council meeting on August 27th, where only Poland’s national flag was displayed.
Images published on the president’s official website and social media accounts have also shown the EU banner less frequently than under Nawrocki’s predecessor, Andrzej Duda, for whom it was a regular feature of the presidential office.
Asked about the reports, presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz said the EU flag “is present” in the presidential chancellery. He stressed that during Nawrocki’s statements in recent weeks, three flags were displayed: Poland’s national colours, NATO’s flag and the EU’s twelve-star banner.
Leśkiewicz did not, however, confirm whether the EU flag remains in Nawrocki’s office itself.
Nawrocki, a sovereignist-conservative politician, has previously voiced criticism of the European Union in a number of policy areas, including the Green Deal and proposals for a more common approach to migration.
The president has vowed to stop efforts to bring in illegal migrants to Poland, to adopting the euro as the country’s currency, and said he would also reject the ratification of any EU treaty modification that would take away more of Poland’s sovereignty.
While the display of flags is largely symbolic, such gestures can be interpreted as signals of political direction.
The EU flag continues to be flown outside the presidential palace, where official symbols of state and international organisations are customarily displayed.
