The Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, said that until the Ukrainian authorities compromise on the problems surrounding the Volhynia Massacre case, Poland will not allow the country to join the EU. The most important questions are the obstruction of exhumations of the Polish victims and the glorification of the perpetrators such as Stepan Bandera or Roman Shukhevych in Ukraine. 

The Polish Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) spoke about the relations with Ukraine in an interview for Polish private broadcaster Polsat. 

“Ukraine cannot be accepted into the EU until Warsaw and Kyiv resolve the Volyn massacre,” Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

Kosiniak-Kamysz also assured that Poland will still support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, until Ukrainian victory. 

“Any other outcome [of the war] would pose an imminent threat of war for Poland. The security of Poland and Europe is at stake here,” said Kosiniak-Kamysz.

During the rule of the United Right government, a similar condition was presented to Ukraine by Minister of Foreign Affairs Paweł Jabłoński.

The genocide of the Polish population in Volhynia carried out on the initiative of Ukrainian nationalist organisations of OUN and UPA lasted throughout 1943 and claimed the lives of around 100,000 civilian victims. The Ukrainian side fails to recognise the responsibility for the atrocities and presents a narrative of a war between Poles and Ukrainians during the occupation, contrary to historical facts. 

A memorial dedicated to the victims of the Volhynia Genocide was revealed 10 days ago in Domostawa, Poland. British Poles covered the ceremony and the history of the “unwanted” memorial in the article Unwanted Monument to the Volhynian Massacre unveiled in Domostawa, Poland.

Tomasz Modrzejewski