Poland's Foreign Ministry warns Ukraine of "major problems" in EU over Bandera and Shukhevych in National Pantheon

Khrystyna Bondarieva , VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - 24 August, 10:40

Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych. Collage: open sources

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki has stated that the inclusion of figures such as Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych in Ukraine's National Pantheon would lead to major problems with the country's integration into the European Union.

Source: Bosacki, cited by RMF 24, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Polish deputy foreign minister said that "every nation and its authorities have the right to choose whichever heroes they see fit".

At the same time, he stated that "however, if individuals responsible for mass crimes against the civilian population, such as Bandera or Shukhevych, were indeed to appear in Ukraine's National Pantheon, it would significantly worsen Ukraine's relations not only with Poland but with Europe as a whole".

Bosacki drew attention to the fact that at the reburial of "a far less controversial figure, namely Yevhen Konovalets, the head of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists, a few days ago, almost no diplomatic representative from European Union countries took part". He noted that "this was a Polish diplomatic initiative".

"Ukraine knows that under the flags of those who killed – incidentally, not only Poles but also some Ukrainians, as well as Czechs, Jews and Roma – that is, the creators of the UPA during the worst period of its activity, in 1943-1944, Ukraine will have enormous problems with integration into Europe," the deputy foreign minister said.

For reference: The OUN (Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists) was a Ukrainian nationalist political group, the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was its military wing, involved in armed resistance.

In Ukraine, the OUN and UPA are most often commemorated as organisations linked to the struggle for Ukrainian statehood against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In Poland, they are remembered above all in connection with the massacres of Polish civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, known as Volhynia tragedy, a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943.

Armia Krajowa and Bataliony Chłopskie are commemorated in Poland as anti-Nazi resistance formations. In Ukraine, some units linked to these formations are associated with retaliatory and pacification actions against Ukrainian villages. These differing historical experiences continue to shape Ukrainian and Polish public debates over commemoration, national pantheons and bilateral memory policy.

Background:

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz previously stated that Ukraine would face serious problems joining the EU if it does not abandon the honouring of OUN and UPA figures. The minister also agreed with the argument that there are "certain forces" in Kyiv that do not want their country to join the European Union.
Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, stated that no one has the right to dictate to Ukraine regarding who it should consider its heroes and that historical disputes should not stand in the way of supporting the country on its path to EU membership.

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