“Andrzej Duda emphasized that there are difficult topics between Ukraine and Poland, but his policy is to seek understanding between the countries”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“If someone says that he is going to block Ukraine’s access to the European Union, then he fits into the policy of (President of the Russian Federation) Vladimir Putin,” President Andrzej Duda said in an interview with Polsat News on September 23.
He added that Putin attacked Ukraine to stop its integration into the EU. Andrzej Duda emphasized that there are difficult topics between Ukraine and Poland, but his policy is to seek understanding between the countries.
“I tried to act in such a way as not to create points of tension between Warsaw and Kyiv as much as possible. It was not easy because there are difficult topics between us. But I also discussed these issues with President Zelensky, and the best example of this was the presence of the president in Lutsk on the anniversary of the Volyn massacre (this is the official Polish term for the events in Volyn during the Second World War, Ukrainian historians speak of the “Volyn tragedy” of both peoples – ed.)”, said Andrzej Duda.
The President of Poland also emphasized that finding an understanding with Poland is also in the interests of Ukraine: “Finding an understanding with us on all difficult issues, including historical ones, is also in the interests of Ukraine.” “Please remember that Ukrainians have a lot of problems related to their past since the Second World War,” he added.
The topic of the Volyn tragedy is one of the most controversial in Ukrainian-Polish relations. The views of Warsaw and Kyiv on the causes, responsibility and number of victims on both sides differ. But the main disagreement is the number of victims among Poles and Ukrainians and the accusation by the Polish side of the UPA of mass murders of Poles in Volyn.
In 2017, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance imposed a moratorium on the exhumation of bodies from graves. This was called a response to the inaction of the Polish authorities regarding the protection of Ukrainian burials in Poland.
After the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyi as the President of Ukraine in 2019, the ban was lifted, and Polish researchers conducted some work in Ukraine. Instead, Poland restored the monument to Ukrainian soldiers destroyed by vandals in Monastir, but without reproducing their names.