“Andrzej Duda hopes that Warsaw’s appeal to Kyiv regarding exhumation works will be considered and approved”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“This is not a new topic (historical issues, the problem of exhumations). President Zelenskyi and I have been talking (about this) for a long time. It’s no secret that this is a difficult topic that needs to be resolved calmly,” he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who also held a meeting with the Ukrainian president today, said that Warsaw and Kyiv are in the process of deciding on a dignified burial for the victims of the Volyn tragedy.
“We have to do it together in full understanding. I do not want anyone in Poland or somewhere in Europe to make any conditions for supporting Ukraine in the confrontation with Russia… No one has the right to discredit Poland, Ukraine in any dimension, in particular the integration of Ukraine into the EU. Because here we are talking about Polish security. Whoever does not understand this is either a fool or a traitor,” added Tusk.
The visit of the Ukrainian president is taking place against the background of preparations for the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, which will begin in April this year in the Ternopil region. They will be held by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation together with experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, specialists from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, and Ukrainian archaeologists.
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On January 10, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a “breakthrough” regarding the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy.
In November of last year, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Poland Andrii Sybiga and Radoslav Sikorsky made a joint statement, in which, in particular, it is said that Ukraine will not prevent the Polish side from conducting search and exhumation works on Ukrainian territory, in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine, and will positively consider applications on these issues.
We are talking about the victims of the Volyn tragedy of 1942-1944, when violence broke out during the Nazi occupation, which culminated in the mass murder of Poles in the summer of 1943.