Ukraine's Foreign Ministry criticises Poland for establishing memorial day on Volyn tragedy
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticised Poland's decision to establish a national day of remembrance for the victims of "genocide committed by the OUN [Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists] and UPA [Ukrainian Insurgent Army] in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic", calling it inconsistent with the spirit of good neighbourly relations between the two countries. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]
Source: a statement by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by European Pravda
Details: On 5 June, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine condemned the Polish Sejm's decision to designate 11 July as a day of remembrance for the victims of "genocide committed by the OUN and UPA in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic".
Quote: "Such unilateral steps do not contribute to achieving mutual understanding and reconciliation, which our countries have been working on for a long time, particularly in the format of the Joint Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues, which operates with the participation of the ministries of culture and national memory institutions from both countries."
Details: The ministry emphasised that Ukraine "consistently advocates for a scientific and unbiased study of the complex pages of our shared history".
Therefore, the ministry believes that the path to genuine reconciliation lies in dialogue, mutual respect, and collaborative historical research – not in unilateral political assessments.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called on Poland "to refrain from steps that could lead to increased tension in bilateral relations and undermine the achievements gained through constructive dialogue and cooperation between Ukraine and Poland".
The ministry also reminded both nations not to view each other as enemies, stressing that their common enemy is Russia.
Background:
In response to the mass destruction of Ukrainian monuments in Poland in 2015-2017 and the insufficient investigation of these crimes, Ukraine imposed moratoriums on the search and exhumation of the remains of Poles killed in 1943-1945 by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
For years, the issue of exhumations has been a bone of contention in relations between Ukraine and Poland. The new Polish government, headed by Donald Tusk, put pressure on Kyiv to lift the moratorium.
Warsaw even said that the resolution of historical disputes would be a prerequisite for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
In late April, the exhumation of the bodies of Polish citizens who were killed in 1945 began in Ukraine's Ternopil Oblast at the site of the disappeared village of Puzhnyky.
Paweł Kowal, the head of the Joint Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues, called this a breakthrough in bilateral relations.
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