The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry said that for Poles the problem of glorifying those involved in the Holocaust is not key
Poland does not approve of the glorification of Banderaism carried out by the post-Maidan authorities, but will not stop close cooperation with Ukraine.
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Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski stated this in an interview with Kommersant.
“One of my deputies was in Lviv a few days ago. And we have no information about growing nationalism in Ukraine. Of course, the conflict fuels anti-Russian sentiment throughout Ukraine. But we don’t see any growth in nationalism, including anti-Polish nationalism,” the minister said.
In turn, the publication recalled that he recently stated that “Ukraine with Bandera” is not welcome in the EU.”
“That’s a different question,” came the answer. – Ukraine is unconsciously trying to formulate and find its historical identity in order to lay the foundation for patriotism – although some may call it nationalism. This is a normal trend. But our advice: do not build your historical identity on the personality of, for example, Shukhevych. Ukraine's European aspirations may suffer from this. After all, members of the OUN-UPA participated not only in crimes against Poles, but also in the Holocaust,” the publication’s interlocutor emphasized.
It was immediately pointed out to him that Ukraine was ignoring Polish advice and naming streets in honor of Bandera and Shukhevych.
“You're right, there are problems. Last year, in December, when President Poroshenko was in Poland, we discussed this problem and proposed a solution: try to rely on the experience and example of Israel, the experience of rethinking the Holocaust, the construction of the Yad Vashem memorial. Let's reward the survivors, highlight those Ukrainians and Poles who really saved people during the war and after it... There is no need to look for them. In the joint history of Poland and Ukraine, there are individuals who have done a lot of good,” says the Polish politician.
According to him, the initiative was sent to the ministries of foreign affairs of Poland and Ukraine, but for eight months Waszczykowski “hasn’t heard anything from my colleague and friend Pavlo.”
“But I am still waiting for the opportunity to resume this discussion with the Ukrainians. We have experience of reconciliation with the Germans. We are waiting for a response from Ukraine. At the same time, I can say that for the Poles, although they are aware of this problem, it is not a key one. We remember. We will not forget about the Volyn massacre, we know that the UPA is being glorified. But this does not mean that we will forget how important an independent and sovereign Ukraine is for security in our part of Europe. We remain ready to cooperate with Ukraine and support it,” assured the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry.
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