Senior Polish official questions "whether Ukrainian elite actually wants to join EU"

Marcin Przydacz, Head of the International Policy Bureau of the Polish President's Office, has described Ukraine's authorities as "kleptocratic" and said he doubts they actually want to join the European Union.

Source: Przydacz on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: In a provocative social media post, Przydacz suggested that Kyiv is escalating the Polish-Ukrainian conflict in order to divert attention from domestic problems.

"Has Ukrainian society ever truly pondered whether its kleptocratic elites actually want to join the European Union? The vast majority of ordinary Ukrainians certainly do – they want to be part of the West (although that wasn't quite so obvious just a few years ago) – but do their oligarchic, corrupt elites as well?" Przydacz said.

On 28 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a draft law on the National Pantheon, which is intended to honour distinguished Ukrainians, to the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament).

"Of course it is easier to provoke and inflame historical tensions than to be held accountable for the lack of reforms, lack of effective anti-corruption efforts, lack of real de-oligarchisation, lack of any real improvements for entrepreneurs, lack of the rule of law, lack of infrastructure improvements, and the lack of many other things that these elites have failed to achieve over the past three decades," Przydacz wrote.

"Ukraine will not join the EU if they cling onto Bandera, Shukhevych or Kliachkivskyi [members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army – ed.]. But do their leaders actually want to, or are they simply stringing along their voters, who are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their authorities?" Przydacz asked.

For reference: The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles.

Background:

• Earlier, Piotr Müller, a Member of the European Parliament from Poland's opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, said that their group has submitted a proposal on holding a debate and adopting a resolution on commemorating the victims of the "genocide committed by the UPA".
• On the evening of 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki took the decision to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He said Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
• Following this decision, a number of current and former Ukrainian officials announced that they would be returning their Polish awards.
• Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the Law and Justice party, said Poland should start blocking upcoming rounds of negotiations in Ukraine's EU accession process.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on 26 June that Ukraine is willing to engage in an equal, honest and mutually beneficial partnership with Poland and wishes to use all available diplomatic tools to resolve the dispute.

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