Polish defence minister reiterates that Ukraine will not reach EU "under banner of Bandera"

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Poland, has reiterated that Ukraine's current attitude towards its history could become a serious obstacle on its path to the EU.

Source: Polish news agency WP, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "Ukraine will not join the European Union with Bandera on its banner. If the Croats glorified the Ustaše, they too would not have joined the European Union. In the Federal Republic of Germany, commanders from the Second World War are not glorified today, even those who were soldiers rather than criminals. In France, no monuments are erected to Marshal Pétain today. So it's an obvious matter: a European community is not built on a history that is hostile towards that community."

Details: Kosiniak-Kamysz said that three things need to happen for the situation on historical issues to calm down.

Quote: "Firstly: they [Ukrainians – ed.] must understand that, objectively, what happened in Volhynia, in Eastern Lesser Poland, in Eastern Galicia in 1943 and 1944 was genocide. Innocent people were killed simply because they were Polish. The second issue is honouring the memory... The third point is forgiveness."

Details: Kosiniak-Kamysz also expressed the view that negotiations with Ukraine on its EU accession will continue for "many more years".

Quote: "It certainly won't be as president Duda promised in the Supreme Council. I don't know whether the entourage of PiS [the Law and Justice party] wants to remember today that their president said he wouldn't rest until Ukraine urgently joined the Union as a full member. The question is whether Ukraine and its elite actually want to join the European Union. Isn't it more convenient for some to live in a world where the EU's rules do not apply, and where enjoying some of its benefits is controversial?"

Background:

• Just last month, Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Ukraine would face serious problems joining the EU if it did not abandon the honouring of figures from nationalist organisations of the past, namely OUN and UPA.
• The minister also agreed with the notion that there are "certain forces" in Kyiv that do not want their country to join the EU.

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