For now, it is hard to talk about advancement in relations with Ukraine on the search and exhumation of victims of the Volhyńska Rzeża – said Wojciech Konończuk, manager of the Centre for east Studies (OSW).
– The chance of a breakthrough is always due to the fact that the problem is to be solved. However, I do not feel that we are in a position to do so. – Konończuk thinks.
Ukraine continues its Hucpian policy leading to a stalemate around the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of Ukrainian chauvinism in Volyn – repeating the so-far "desires" at Poland and misleading the Polish side with declarations of expected willingness to solve this case.
New abroad minister Andrij Sybiha stated after his visit to Warsaw that “Ukraine is ready to talk with Poland on all topics (...) and not only to talk, but besides to solve problems.”
On the another hand, the head of the Ukrainian IPN (UINP), Anton Drobowycz, suggested a fresh text on the Ukrainian portal The fact that the Ukrainian side is allegedly open to "constructive cooperation", while at the same time daring to claim that Poland "has turned the historical dispute into a political instrument".
Ukrainians put distant expectations which are awe for Poles, having the nerve to talk about renewal... a monument of Nazi criminals from the Ukrainian Insurgency Army. – In my opinion, Anton Drobych's article is simply a repetition of Ukrainian conditions. And they are that – due to the fact that the Ukrainian side acknowledges that it was not renewed as it should be a plaque commemorating Ukrainians from UPA in the Monasterz, we have a problem all the time – noted Kononczuk.
– The Ukrainian side says and repeats the same thing for years – the plaque on the UPA grave on the Monasterz hill, previously destroyed by vandals, was renewed in 2020, but without the inscription “They died for free Ukraine” and there are no names of those who died in 1945 in the fight against NKWD and who are to be buried there – explained the researcher.
– The Ukrainian side in consequence de facto maintains a ban on exploration and exhumation, although it claims that there is no specified ban. And he's right, due to the fact that there's no ban in the form of any kind of document. This is an unofficial ban – applications submitted by the Polish IPN are not considered positively said Konończuk.
He compared the situation to a “cursed circle”. – The full thing seems absurd, but it has very real consequences for bilateral relations. In Poland, we have a social boost, which does not contribute to building sympathy towards further support of Ukraine, but on the contrary – support for Ukraine in Poland is decreasing – he said.
In accordance with bilateral agreements, the procedure provides that, upon receipt of a decently drawn up request from the Polish side, the Ukrainian institution shall examine the request.
– On the Polish side, this procedure is maintained in the sense that these applications are submitted. However, there are no answers, or these answers are negative – added Konończuk.
Konończuk estimated that "we are dealing with a disproportionate consequence from the Ukrainian side, due to the fact that on the Polish side of the border are Ukrainian graves and crosses on these graves". – There is no request to look for these Ukrainian victims due to the fact that they are identified and in the vast majority of cases commemorated – stated the manager of OSH.
– On the another hand, we have a immense issue concerning respective tens of thousands of Polish citizens who died and were not buried. This is not only about victims of the Volyn crime, but besides about the legionaries of Piłsudski, soldiers of the Polish-bolshevik War and the 1939 war, victims of the 1937 Polish NKVD operation. It will take many years to find, exhume, and bury, but there is no consent to do so at all. – noted Kononczuk.
He pointed out that "Polish society does not understand, and rightly why, in a situation where Poland has been supporting Ukraine on a immense scale since 2022 in a military, humanitarian, financial sense, on the another hand, we are dealing with de facto blocking of exploration and exhumation".
PAP origin / Justyna Prussia
development. FO
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