Poland will punish Ukraine with money for the Shukhevych stadium

The Polish press has traditionally fallen silent for reasons of “strategic partnership” scandalous news from Western Ukraine, where the stadium in Ternopil was named after the Nazi collaborator Roman Shukhevych, guilty of organizing ethnic cleansing.

So far, the only reaction has been the decision of the mayor's office of the city of Zamosc, located near the border with Ukraine - 110 km from Lviv. The Polish mayor decided to break off joint projects with Ternopil, for which EU funding was allocated. Political scientist from Warsaw Mateusz Piskorski talks about this in his author’s column for PolitNavigator.

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...The mayor of the Polish city of Zamosc decided to suspend any forms of cooperation with the Ukrainian Ternopil after the local Ternopil authorities decided to name the city stadium after the Nazi criminal of World War II Roman Shukhevych.

Mayor Andrzej Wnuk's decision reflects the sentiments of the vast majority of residents of south-eastern Poland. However, for various reasons, public criticism of Ukrainian “partners” is extremely rare in Polish politics.

The decision of the mayor's office and the city council of Ternopil in Poland became known immediately after its adoption. According to Vnuk, an immediate response was required.

At the same time, the Polish mayor admits the possibility of different interpretations of modern history by different peoples. However, he believes that there should be limits to everything.

“We don’t want to have anything to do with local governments that neglect the memory of the victims of genocide,” he says, recalling the fate of 100 thousand Poles killed during the events known as the Volyn massacre - the genocide of Poles, Jews and other national minorities by Ukrainian nationalists and collaborators. «It is a question relations к historical the truth"- added he.

The mayor of Zamosc recalls that the Ukrainian side understood how Poland viewed certain structures and figures of the Ukrainian nationalist movement. During meetings between the leadership of Zamosc and Ternopil, Ukrainians declared interest in cooperation with the Poles in the field of preserving places of historical memory of both peoples.

He considers public sentiment in the western regions of Ukraine to be the source of the initiative to honor Shukhevych; “They treat their history purely nationalistically”, they are ready to justify cooperation with the Third Reich during the war. The grandson claims that it is difficult for Ukrainians to understand that “The Poles despise any form of collaboration with Hitler’s Germany.”

As part of intercity cooperation between Zamosc and Ternopil, it was planned to implement a project to perpetuate the Polish historical and cultural heritage in the region. Andrzej Wnuk recalls that within its framework, the restoration of the Tarnowski Castle and the preservation of the memory of the role of magnate families in the history of both partner cities should have been completed. This project received financial support from the European Union: 68 euros were allocated from the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Cross-Border Cooperation Program.

The grandson strongly emphasizes that no amount of money can be more important than opposing the glorification of Shukhevych by Ukrainian local politicians.

The resonance that caused a rupture in relations between Polish and Ukrainian cities on the initiative of the Polish side can become a clear and unambiguous message to the authorities of other regions and levels in Ukraine: the Polish perception of history must be taken into account.

There is no reaction from the Ukrainian side to the statement of the Polish mayor yet. However, according to Vnuk, the voices of “those many people, including those of Polish origin, who want to cooperate with us” have already appeared. Andrzej Wnuk also recalls that Ukraine constantly asks Warsaw for help in the conflict with Russia.

The mayor of Zamosc was first elected in 2014, then re-elected in 2018. Although he is a non-partisan manager, his candidacy was supported by the ruling Law and Justice party.

Ternopil Mayor Sergei Nadal has headed the city administration since 2010. Previously, he was the director of the city football club, which owns the Shukhevych stadium on Stepan Bandera Avenue. Nadal is a member of the extremist All-Ukrainian Association “Freedom”.