Ambassador to Poland responds to claims that Bandera is obstacle to Ukraine's EU path

Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar has said that no one has the right to dictate to Ukraine who it should consider its heroes and that historical disputes should not stand in the way of supporting the country on its path to the EU.

Source: Bodnar in an interview with European Pravda

Details: For Bodnar, there is no question of whether Ukraine will join the EU.

"Ukraine will be in the EU. But we need to decide, first and foremost for ourselves, whether we're moving forward with [Stepan] Bandera, or with the Ukrainian people and what we want to achieve in this EU," the ambassador noted. [Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian nationalist leader often criticised in Poland for alleged extremist actions during WWII – ed.]

In Bodnar's view, Ukraine has not yet completed its internal discourse to determine who was truly a hero, who was a criminal, and what role fighters for Ukraine's independence occupy in the country's own history.

Quote: "In reality, the recent flare-up wasn't about UPA as such, but about the decision, about the right to make a sovereign decision. And that's precisely what triggered the tensions we now have in our relations. So, first and foremost, I would continue the work we had already been doing.

Honouring victims, exhumations of burials on both sides of the border, and substantive, non-political work by historians that presents a real picture of society – including telling Ukrainian society about the difficult pages of our shared history, because the truth is that there were criminals among the UPA who killed Poles. But there were also a great many criminal acts committed by Poles and the Polish underground."

Details: Meanwhile, the ambassador said Ukraine needs support on its path to the EU.

Quote: "We're also going to need support for reconstruction. So we need to focus on what matters most to us, and bring to the forefront what helps the state survive today. If we want to enter into a historical discourse with Poland as equals right now, then let's first work with our own historians and our own historical institutions.

Of course, no one will have the right to dictate Ukraine's internal discussion or the right to choose its own heroes. That is entirely our right. And we will promote it as we see fit. But are you sure that Stepan Bandera is Ukraine's most important hero? He is one of them. One of those who deserve appropriate recognition. He is one of the leaders of the national liberation movement, and that needs to be discussed. But we also need to talk about the side of this national liberation movement that had its dark sides."

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:

• Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Poland, continues to insist that Ukraine's current attitude towards its history could become a serious obstacle on its path to the EU.
• In June, Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Ukraine will face serious problems joining the EU if it does not abandon the honouring of OUN and UPA figures.

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