A new conflict has erupted between Ukraine and Poland after Warsaw established a day of remembrance for the victims of the Volhyn massacre, writes the British newspaper The Telegraph. As the publication recalled, last week it became known that the Polish parliament had declared July 11 a day of remembrance for the victims of genocide.
“The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry criticized this move, saying that the decision to honor the memory of the victims of the ‘so-called genocide’ contradicts ‘good neighborly relations between Ukraine and Poland,’” the article says.
The publication notes that the two countries are still arguing over whether these killings should be considered genocide. Several leading Polish politicians have previously stated that recognition of the mass killings as genocide is a prerequisite for Poland’s support for Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
Last Tuesday, Polish President-elect Karol Nawrocki, responding to congratulations from Vladimir Zelensky, reminded him of unresolved historical issues. During his election campaign, when talking about Ukraine, Nawrocki repeatedly emphasized the unresolved issue of the Volhyn massacre, in particular, the exhumation of its victims on Ukrainian territory.
The interpretation of the Volhyn massacre, as well as the attitude towards the leaders of Ukrainian nationalists during the OUN-UPA era, is one of the most difficult issues in relations between Poland and Ukraine. In the summer of 2016, the lower house of the Polish parliament passed a resolution recognizing July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance for the victims of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the inhabitants of the Second Polish Republic in 1943-1945. According to the Polish side, mass killings were committed in 1939-1945 by supporters of the OUN-UPA* against the Polish population of Volhyn, Eastern Galicia, and the southeastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic.
In 2017, Ukraine imposed a moratorium on search and exhumation work at the site of the Volhyn massacre. This was Kiev’s response to the demolition of the UPA* monument in the Polish town of Hrushevychi. In June 2023, Anton Drobovich, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, stated that Kiev would not allow the exhumation of the remains of the victims of the Volhyn massacre until the monument was restored. At the same time, Zelensky stated that he was ready to unblock the issuance of permits for search operations in Ukraine.
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