Today I see Ukraine neither in EU nor in NATO - Polish presidential candidate Nawrocki
Karol Nawrocki, who is a presidential candidate in Poland and is supported by the opposition Law and Justice party, said that he does not see Ukraine as a member of the European Union or NATO until the issue of the Volyn tragedy is resolved.
He said this on Polsat News, Censor.NET reports.
"Today, I do not see Ukraine in any structure - neither in the European Union nor in NATO - until such important civilizational issues for Poles are resolved. A country that cannot answer for a very brutal crime against 120,000 of its neighbors cannot be part of international alliances," Nawrocki said, referring to the events in Volyn in 1943.
At the same time, he emphasized that Poles have supported and continue to support Ukrainians.
Nawrocki explained that the agreement on the exhumation reached between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was "an unnecessary trick by the head of Polish diplomacy," and the whole issue was "introduced into the internal campaign" when Sikorski was fighting with Rafał Trzaskowski for the nomination to run for president.
"We at the Institute of National Memory have already experienced a dozen potential breakthroughs in this matter, so for me the enthusiasm of the head of Polish diplomacy was premature. I want to make it clear that the Institute of National Remembrance (...) can support the government's efforts in the issue of exhumation in Volyn. The Polish case is much more important to us here. I would like a breakthrough, but there is no breakthrough yet," added the candidate, who heads the Institute of National Remembrance in Poland.
Nawrocki said that as president of Poland, he would "make it clear to the Ukrainian side that our financial efforts, the efforts of our citizens, the military efforts that helped Ukraine would like to be met with a partnership attitude from the Ukrainian side and the opportunity to bury our women and children."
"For me, the interests of Poles are more important than a slap on the back," he added.
The issue of exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy
As reported, in September, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that without resolving the issue of exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, Ukraine cannot dream of joining the EU. At the same time, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policy.
During his visit to Warsaw on October 1, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine is ready to discuss with Poland controversial issues of common history, including the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.
On October 2, the UINR stated that they plan to conduct search operations for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that it remains open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for the places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in the restoration and preservation of places of memory have not been in place for a long time.
Drobovych believes that Ukrainian and Polish officials need to finally move to constructive action "in the problematic issues of exhumation and burials" and proposed a "road map".
On October 4, Poland's Defense Minister reiterated his intention to block Ukraine's accession to the EU until the issue of exhumation and commemoration of the victims of the Volyn tragedy is resolved.
On 26 November, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, after a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, said that Kyiv had assured him that there were no obstacles to the search and exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine.
