Recently, relations between Ukraine and Poland have once again been in the center of attention of international politics due to the recent statements of the Polish Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosyniak-Kamysz. His statement that Ukraine will have to resolve the issue of the Volyn tragedy of 1943 in order to be able to join the European Union caused a wide resonance in the political circles of both countries.
This statement attracted the attention of Ukrainian People's Deputies Mykola Knyazhytsky and Volodymyr Viatrovych, generated a wide resonance and caused heated discussions both in Poland and Ukraine.
Mykola Knyazhytsky, commenting on the situation, sharply reacted to the statement of the Polish minister, calling the issue of the Volyn tragedy a "fabrication" and "public relations in words". He noted that although the tragedy that took place in 1943 was terrible, the main issues at the moment are the exhumation of Polish victims and the restoration of memorial tablets relating to Ukrainians who died at the hands of the NKVD. "We will solve these issues," Knyazhytsky assured on his Facebook page, stressing the readiness of the Ukrainian authorities to find a solution.
Volodymyr Viatrovych, in turn, shared his impressions of recent meetings in Warsaw and Gdańsk with Polish colleagues. He focused on the fact that the discussion mainly concerned the current and future aspects of relations between Ukraine and Poland. "All the conversations were about now and tomorrow," he said, criticizing the attempts of individual Polish politicians to tie modern relations to past conflicts.
Vyatrovych emphasized that historical conflicts between Ukrainians and Poles were often used by Russia to achieve its goals, and called for a constructive dialogue rather than focusing on old wounds.
This point of view was supported by the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Pawel Jablonskyi, who stated that without resolving the issue of exhumation of the remains of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, Ukraine should not dream of joining the EU. This became another signal for Ukraine about the need to solve these painful issues.
For your information, in July 2023, the Polish Seimas adopted a resolution commemorating the victims of the Volyn tragedy on its 80th anniversary. The document emphasizes that Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation should include recognition of guilt and commemoration of the victims. The Ukrainian side, in its turn, agreed to start search and exhumation works on the graves of Poles killed by the Ukrainian insurgent army in 1945 in the town of Puznyki in Podil.
The situation surrounding the Volyn tragedy continues to be a sensitive topic in the relations between Ukraine and Poland. It is important that these issues are resolved with attention to historical facts and respect for the memory of the victims, as well as with an understanding of the current political realities and needs of both countries.
