Polish officials say Zelenskyy's National Pantheon move worsens Kyiv-Warsaw relations

The Polish government has concluded that Kyiv is only deepening its dispute with Poland after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the establishment of the Ukrainian National Pantheon.

Source: Polish media outlet Onet, as reported by European Pravda

Details: On 28 June, Zelenskyy submitted to parliament a draft law on the Ukrainian National Pantheon, intended to honour distinguished Ukrainians.

"No one will ever dictate how we live, how we speak, who we love, who we should be grateful to, or which heroes we should honour," Zelenskyy said on Sunday amid the dispute with Poland, which was angered by the president's decision to grant a Ukrainian military unit the honorary designation "named after the Heroes of the UPA".

Officials in the Polish government said they had been aware of the plans to establish the pantheon but were nevertheless surprised by Zelenskyy's remarks.

"We have long known that Zelenskyy wanted to set up the pantheon, but his words sound strange. I admit that they surprised us," a Polish government representative told Onet on condition of anonymity.

Details: An unnamed government member said Kyiv's current policy does not encourage Polish companies to do business in Ukraine.

"It is a great pity that Zelenskyy acted this way. There was hope that we would improve our relations, but it now appears they will become even worse. It is important for us to look after Polish companies that want to do business in Ukraine, but Kyiv's current policy does not help," one unnamed minister told Onet.

Another anonymous senior government official said Ukraine is harming itself by fuelling the dispute with Poland.

"The prime minister has concerns, particularly about the impact of Ukrainian agriculture on our market, so there can be no ambiguity on that issue. But Ukraine must also remember that by fuelling a dispute with Poland, it is harming itself," the official said.

The announcement came two days after the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, which Zelenskyy did not attend amid the dispute with Polish President Karol Nawrocki.

Background:

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

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