Polish president raises Ukraine and Ukrainian Insurgent Army issues abroad, says spokesperson

Polish President's spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz has said that Polish President Karol Nawrocki is raising the issue of Polish-Ukrainian historical relations at the international level.

Source: excerpts from Leśkiewicz's latest interview with TV Republika published on the Polish president's official website, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Leśkiewicz emphasised that the current situation surrounding the naming of a Ukrainian military unit has an important educational dimension.

"We constantly speak about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and not only in Poland. We are also bringing this discussion to the international stage, which needs to understand why this decision by the President of Ukraine has such a negative impact on Polish-Ukrainian relations – not only symbolically, but also politically and socially," he explained.

He added that the Polish side expects a change in Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision.

"We will wait a little longer to see whether President Zelenskyy changes his decision. Diplomacy operates on the principle of reciprocity, so this decision must be met with a firm response from President Karol Nawrocki," he said.

For reference: The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland believes that the UPA was responsible for what it considers the genocide of Poles during the Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy, a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943. The tragedy was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west.

Background:

• Earlier, Marcin Przydacz, the head of the Polish president's Bureau of International Policy, stated that it depends on the Ukrainian side whether Karol Nawrocki will strip his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of the Order of the White Eagle.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes that Zelenskyy did not intend to offend Poland by assigning the name "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" to the Ukrainian unit; however, in Tusk's view, the Ukrainian side lacks sensitivity in this matter.
• On 8 June, a meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle took place in Poland, where one of the topics discussed was President Karol Nawrocki's proposal to strip his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of the award.

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