Politicians react sharply to Bogusław Nowak’s posts. Borys: “Exceptionally vile.” Sikora: “Simply scandalous.” Pogoda: “I will not stoop to the level…”

The issue of Bogusław Nowak’s public statements is prompting increasingly broad discussion. The istotne.pl portal asked parliamentarians representing various sides of the political scene for comments. The questions concerned both Nowak’s published posts and his involvement in the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival.

We present the politicians’ statements as their opinions and assessments. We do not determine whether individual posts by Bogusław Nowak meet the elements of any criminal offence.

Piotr Borys: “Exceptionally vile”

Piotr Borys, a Civic Coalition MP and undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, spoke most sharply.

“I consider some of Bogusław Nowak’s public statements exceptionally vile. In my view, they contain antisemitic and xenophobic content, are full of hatred, and include statements that can be interpreted as wishing death upon others. Such language is absolutely unacceptable to me in public life,” said Piotr Borys.

The politician also referred to Nowak’s public statements concerning, among others, Donald Tusk, Rafał Trzaskowski and Włodzimierz Czarzasty.

“His statements about Donald Tusk, Rafał Trzaskowski and Marshal Czarzasty, as well as situations in which he calls for death, are simply unacceptable. They may bear the hallmarks of a criminal offence,” he assessed.

Borys also criticized the cultural center’s engagement of Nowak during the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival.

“Entrusting him with hosting any part, even a small one, of a public celebration is beyond my comprehension. This should not happen, because in this way we allow someone to engage in hate speech, abuse others, incite hatred or even call for death,” he said.

The MP also appealed to the city authorities.

“The local authorities of Bolesławiec should make a strict and immediate decision to remove this person from any public functions connected with hosting part of such an important event as the Ceramic Festival,” he said.

Arkadiusz Sikora: “Simply scandalous”

We also asked Arkadiusz Sikora, a Left MP, for comment.

“If it is true that Mr. Bogusław Nowak—a person who uses the language of hatred and aggression in the public sphere and incites hostility toward other people—is to have the honor of opening the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival, then in my view this is an ethically highly questionable, or even simply scandalous, initiative,” said Arkadiusz Sikora.

The MP noted that his assessment also depends on how much the event’s organizers know about Nowak’s public statements.

“This would show that the organizers of the festival either have no knowledge of Mr. Bogusław Nowak’s public statements, or, fully aware of them, are assigning him such an important role in an event of enormous importance to the city and the region,” he stated.

“If the second option is true, I strongly criticize and oppose such practices. There should be no acceptance of people who use hate speech in the public sphere, let alone assigning them an important public role of social significance,” the parliamentarian added.

Szymon Pogoda of Law and Justice does not want to assess individual posts

Szymon Pogoda, a Law and Justice MP, presented a more restrained position. Pogoda did not directly address individual posts by Bogusław Nowak.

“I will not stoop to the level of commenting on individual Facebook posts by particular people. Without a doubt, every comment expressed in a vulgar or offensive manner, or one that crosses the boundaries of decency, deserves condemnation—regardless of whom it concerns or which side of the political dispute it comes from,” said MP Szymon Pogoda.

At the same time, Pogoda drew attention to the aggressive language used against Law and Justice and its voters.

“In recent years, we have observed a concentrated attack on and disparagement of Law and Justice and its voters—by individuals as well as by some media outlets and politicians. It is enough to recall the promotion of the ‘eight stars’ slogan, which has permanently entered the language of political aggression. Politicians from the current governing coalition also used it, including MP Witold Zembaczyński, who presented a car covered with that slogan. Unfortunately, this kind of message also reached spaces attended by children and young people,” he stated.

The Law and Justice MP stressed that he himself had also been the target of offensive statements.

“I myself have repeatedly experienced hate that had nothing to do with substantive criticism or an argument-based dispute. It was simply verbal aggression, rudeness and abuse,” he said.

Pogoda believes that the discussion should concern public-debate standards more broadly, rather than only individual comments posted on social media. “Therefore, instead of analyzing individual comments on social media, each of us should answer much more important questions: What kind of public debate do we want? What should the role of the media—including local media—be in it?” the parliamentarian asks.

“Are we capable of disagreeing in a civilized manner, presenting arguments and substantively justifying our views? Or will we replace a lack of arguments with insults, aggression and rudeness? We all create the standards of public debate—politicians, the media and participants in public life. And it depends on each of us whether it will be a debate based on arguments or on mutual abuse,” Szymon Pogoda concluded.

The editorial office also contacted Bogusław Nowak

Istotne.pl also tried to obtain a statement from Bogusław Nowak himself.

On Friday, August 14, we sent him a message:

“Good morning. We have comments from representatives of the Left and the Civic Coalition concerning your hateful Facebook posts. Would you like to make any statement for the article?”

Bogusław Nowak did not respond by the time the article was published.

What is the issue concerning Bogusław Nowak’s posts?

For two years, Nowak has received a prominent role during the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival, organized by the municipal cultural institution BOK-MCC. Even before the 2025 Ceramic Festival, the istotne.pl portal drew the city authorities’ attention to content he published concerning, among others, Ukrainians and LGBT people. At the time, Bolesławiec mayor Piotr Roman and BOK-MCC director Kornel Filipowicz were asked about the matter. Filipowicz replied that the center did not comment on the views of private individuals and announced the creation of a “clay-free zone” during the festival, whatever that was supposed to mean.

The cooperation did not end with giving Nowak access to the stage. BOK-MCC documents concerning the 2025 Ceramic Festival showed that the costs of actors, bands and activities related to the parade and opening amounted to more than PLN 82,000. Nowak also received PLN 15,000 for organizing and carrying out the festival opening, while two sponsors of the municipal event paid a total of more than PLN 33,000 directly to his company. In addition, more than PLN 7,000 was paid for an alpinist service connected with Nowak’s descent from the town hall tower (the event was deemed a failure and strongly criticized by readers). The total value of the expenses and sponsorship funds described at the time exceeded PLN 138,000.

In 2026, the cooperation is evidently continuing. BOK-MCC once again entrusted Nowak and people working with him with preparing events during the Ceramic Festival. As of today, expenditures of at least PLN 110,000 have been officially confirmed, although the center previously announced that it would provide the full costs only after the undertaking had been settled.

The stance of Mayor Piotr Roman is particularly significant here. He cannot claim that he was unaware of the controversies surrounding Nowak’s public activity. The mayor and city authorities were informed about his posts before last year’s Ceramic Festival. Despite this, Nowak was again given a prominent role at the city’s most important event. In recent months, his profile has featured, among other things, references to a “Jewish sect,” migrants as “human locusts,” LGBT people as “deviants,” and, in reference to Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty, a call for “disposal.” One of the posts also demanded the “death penalty” for politicians whom the author described as corrupt.

The contrast is all the greater because Piotr Roman publicly describes Bolesławiec as a city built on the solidarity, freedom and cooperation of people from different backgrounds. At the same time, the municipal cultural institution headed by Kornel Filipowicz continues to involve Nowak in representative events of the Ceramic Festival and allocate public funds to related projects.

The issue of the posts now also has a legal dimension. Following a notification from the Open Republic Association, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra is conducting verification activities concerning Article 257 of the Criminal Code, and the case has been covered by coordination relating to hate-motivated crimes. At this stage, this does not mean that charges have been brought against Nowak or that a crime has been established. It does show, however, that the content about which the Bolesławiec authorities were informed is no longer merely the subject of local political or media discussion—it has also formally been referred to the prosecutor’s office for assessment.