On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted a draft law on the special status of Polish citizens in Ukraine to parliament, the cabinet of the President of Ukraine informed. As emphasized, the draft law on „legal and social guarantees” for Polish citizens in Ukraine is a sign of gratitude to the Polish nation for solidarity and support for Ukraine in the conditions of Russian armed aggression and the implementation of the principle of reciprocity. It was noted that it provides for similar rights and guarantees to those adopted in March in Poland under the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens.

The President of Ukraine also awarded the city of Przemyśl with the honorary title of “Rescuer City”. The head of the Office for International Affairs Jakub Kumoch emphasised that granting Poles in Ukraine the same rights as Ukrainians in Poland is a gesture that shows „how much Poland has become closer to Ukraine”. „As for the date, it is hard to suppose it was a coincidence,” he noted.

– Just as radical Ukrainian nationalists tried to get rid of Poles from what they considered to be the territory of Ukraine, today, Poles will be symbolically invited to Ukraine again, to be treated there as its citizens. This is a great thing, the minister underlined.

When asked if he expected steps from the Ukrainian side regarding the Volhynia massacre, Jakub Kumoch replied: “We have long been in a very sincere and deep dialogue with the administration of President Zelensky, and we believe that this matter should be resolved. Both we and our Ukrainian partners know that the truth cannot be hidden. „

He also stressed that „today’s Ukraine and what happened 80 years ago are two different things.” – As President Duda said, we are not looking for revenge. We just want to commemorate those victims – said Jakub Kumoch.

In this way, he referred to the words of President Andrzej Duda who, during the Monday celebrations of the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists on the citizens of the Second Polish Republic, said, inter alia: “What do we want? We want the truth. What do we want? We want graves, what is just normal in the Christian and Latin civilisation in which our two nations grew up. We want to be able to pray at the graves of our relatives and our countrymen by name and surname if possible, […] “But we also want to offer the same. Because, let it be so, this is elementary honesty, so that where Ukrainians are buried in our land, there will also be a grave, there will also be a first and last name,” the President emphasised. 

When asked about these words, the minister stressed that „if a man died at the hands of Poles, this man also deserves to be honoured and buried”. – We have never argued that Poland has always been blameless in relations with Ukraine, he said.

On the other hand, the day celebrated today is special, because it is a day when a part of the Ukrainian national movement simply chose the path of crime. Not the first time in the history of mankind such a thing happened, but in the history of our nations, it is a very painful card – the minister emphasised. 

When asked about the words of President Duda, who said on Monday that „on this difficult table in our history between Poles and Ukrainians, where the rifle was lying so many times (…) bread was placed” and about what is currently the most important in Polish-Ukrainian relations Jakub Kumoch remarked that „the most important thing is to defeat Russia and [Ukraine’s] victory in the war”. – Because without Ukraine’s victory, without the liberation of its territory, its reconstruction cannot begin and Ukraine’s relations with the West, in particular with Poland, cannot be developed further, he stressed.

Referring to the award of the honorary title of Rescuer City to Przemyśl by President Zelensky, Jakub Kumoch indicated that it is well known what kind of help Polish cities provided to Ukrainians. – Przemyśl is a window to the world, and Rzeszów was a place from which all kinds of aid flowed to Ukraine. It is definitely an appreciation of these activities. You can see that the Ukrainians are simply grateful and the President of Ukraine expressed this gratitude – said the presidential minister. Previously, Rzeszów was already honoured in this way by the Ukrainian side.

When asked about the announced new Polish-Ukrainian treaty on the good neighbourhood, the presidential minister replied: – Work on the treaty is in progress. President Duda deals with this document personally because it is his original idea – Jakub Kumoch underlined. – We will probably soon be negotiating a ready version with the Ukrainians – he said.

President Duda spoke about the necessity to conclude such a new treaty in his address to the Ukrainian Supreme Council in Kyiv on the 22nd of May. During a press conference with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Andrzej Duda emphasised that a good, symbolic moment for signing the new treaty would be January next year, i.e. on the 160th anniversary of the January Uprising. President Zelensky supported this proposal and stressed that Poland was a priority country for Ukraine and that the current relations between our countries were „the best they have been for centuries”.

Source: prezydent.pl

Image: president.gov.ua