Poland - Ukraine: reconciliation or confrontation :: Intent :: Ukrainian Media:: Intent

The main reason for the change in attitudes toward Ukrainians in Poland, in addition to the so-called "war fatigue," was the assessment of the events that took place during World War II on the part of the former Polish territory that the USSR received from Germany.

Karol Nawrocki's new bills and his view of the Volyn tragedy

We are talking about the so-called "Volyn tragedy," as it is called in Ukraine, or the "Volyn massacre," as these events are called in Poland. It is not unlikely that Karol Nawrocki, who, before being elected to his current position, headed the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, will become president of Poland in 2025. In this position, he has proven to be a supporter of conservative, nationalist views on the history of his country. The dominant theme of Polish historical policy under Navrotsky was the events in Volyn during World War II and their explicit anti-Ukrainian assessment in Poland. For a long time, the two countries have been unable to develop a common view of the massacres of Poles in Galicia and Volhynia by Ukrainian nationalist partisans during World War II and the massacres of Ukrainians. During the presidential campaign, Navrotsky repeatedly stated that good relations between Ukraine and Poland would be possible only after Kyiv "resolves historical issues" with Warsaw. Without this, he said, Poland would not allow Ukraine to join the EU and NATO.

Photo: texty.org.ua

Nawrocki's attitude to the events in Volyn resulted in his veto of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine on August 25. These amendments regulated the stay of Ukrainian fugitives in Poland. Nawrocki then submitted his own bill, in which, among other changes, he proposed the introduction of punishment for "propaganda of Banderaism" and the activities of the OUN-UPA on the same grounds as for propaganda of Nazism, communism, or fascism. Then the Polish government submitted its own bill to the country's legislature, which was first supported by the Sejm, and then signed by Karol Navrotsky, because his bill was never supported by the parliament.

But the story did not end there. After the president signed the government's bill, in an interview with Wprost, Nawrocki was asked about the words of Stanisław Tyszko, a member of the European Parliament from the Confederation, who believes that the president disappointed his voters by signing the law. "(Navrotsky) was very much chosen by the voters of Slawomir Menczel. We are used to the fact that both the Civic Platform and Law and Justice do not fulfill their promises, but this happened quite quickly," Tyshka said in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza. When asked about the opinion of the Confederation politicians, the president said that he had not betrayed anyone.

"I am reasonably implementing what I announced. With my first veto of the law on assistance to Ukrainians, I forced the government to abandon the 800+ benefits for unemployed Ukrainians and limit medical tourism. The veto had a tangible effect," Navrotsky said.

He noted that the new law does not meet all his expectations, as it does not, in particular, combat UPA symbols in Poland or extend the period during which foreigners can apply for Polish citizenship.

"However, imagine what would have happened if I had not signed this law. The consequence would have been that half a million Ukrainians would have stormed the offices to extend their right to reside and work. Those who are criticizing me today would complain that I created this chaos," the Polish president said.

Karol Nawrocki. PHOTO: Polish Radio

Nawrocki also emphasized that he signed the law on assistance to Ukrainians for the last time. As he noted, in six months, all national minorities in Poland will be on the same terms.

After that, on September 29, he submitted to the Sejm draft amendments to the law on Polish citizenship, which provides for an increase from three to 10 years of the minimum period of continuous residence in Poland for obtaining Polish citizenship, as well as draft amendments to the law on the Institute of National Remembrance and the Criminal Code, which should prevent the spread of "Bandera ideology" and denial of the Volyn tragedy. The justification for the bill states that these decisions were included in the previous presidential bill on amendments to the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict on the territory of this country and some other laws. In turn, this bill was the result of a veto of the previous government bill.

Karol Nawrocki's draft law on amendments to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation and the draft amendments to the Polish Criminal Code, according to the President's Office, are intended to "counteract the spread of false statements about crimes committed by members and collaborators in the territory of the Republic of Poland, committed by members and collaborators of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of the Bandera faction and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, as well as other Ukrainian formations collaborating with the German Third Reich, in particular the crime of genocide committed against Poles in Volyn."

"The proposed amendment will contribute to more effective criminal prosecution of persons who deny the crime of genocide committed by the OUN (b) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army," the explanatory note to the draft law says.

The amendment to the law is also related to proposed changes to the Criminal Code. The amendments provide for the addition of the phrase "up to 3 years in prison for propaganda of totalitarianism and incitement to hatred" to the article that provides for a sentence of up to 3 years in prison: "The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone who publicly promotes (...) the ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of the Bandera faction and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army or an ideology that incites the use of violence to influence political or social life."

"For Poland, Banderaism has a special and painful dimension. It was directly directed against the Poles living in eastern Kresy and considered an obstacle to the nationalist vision of Ukraine. The memory of the Volyn Massacre and other crimes remains an integral part of Polish history and collective identity," the explanatory note emphasizes.

A look at the controversial issue of the Ukrainian authorities

As you know, the topic of the Volyn tragedy is one of the most controversial in Ukrainian-Polish relations. Ukraine believes that Poland has made a mistake regarding the number of victims of this tragedy.

Thus, the number of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy may in reality be half as many as is believed in Poland. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications for European Integration of Ukraine Andriy Najos at a briefing.

He said that the skeletons of 42 people were exhumed in the village of Puzhnyky, Ternopil region, and that the numbers in Polish historiography are much higher. According to him, this joint research by Ukraine and Poland is a unique material to prove in practice the real scale of the tragedy of those times.

Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy exhumed in Ternopil region / © Associated Press

"Are we talking about 100-150 thousand killed Poles in Ukraine? Because in the practice of one village, one cemetery, we see that the Polish side expected to exhume the bodies of 100-150 people, but in fact we ended up with 42 people. That is, we are actually dividing Polish historiography in half," the Deputy Minister of Culture emphasized.

Najos noted that Ukraine has given permission to research 13 burial sites on its territory, which were identified by Poland, and our state will begin exhumation work in 4 places in Poland, in particular, in the village of Jurechkowa, Podkarpackie Voivodeship. According to him, on September 30, expeditionary work is to begin in the village of Jurechkowa, where UPA soldiers may be buried. The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Oleksandr Alfiorov, said that the tragedy in the village of Yurechkova took place in September 1945 and that about 100 people could have died there.

In November 2024, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, at a press conference following a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga, emphasized that Ukraine would not obstruct the Poles in searching for and exhuming the victims of the Volyn tragedy. In turn, Poland will support Ukraine's EU aspirations. In April 2025, search and exhumation work continued in the old cemetery of the now defunct village of Puzhnyky in the Ternopil region, with the participation of experts from Poland. They were looking for the remains of Poles who died in 1945. Forensic doctors, archaeologists, geneticists, and anthropologists participated in the search and exhumation of victims of the Polish-Ukrainian conflict.

In Ukraine, the initiative of certain political forces to introduce the condemnation of the UPA and the OUN (b) at the legislative level in Poland was met with concern, according to a statement by representatives of the Ukrainian historical community.

The signatories of the statement emphasize the need to avoid politicizing the issues of common historical heritage with Poland, in particular those tragic common pages of history that led to massive casualties on both sides.

"Currently, historians are making efforts to create an objective study of all the circumstances of not only the commission of crimes against the Ukrainian and Polish populations in Volyn and Galicia, but also the reasons that led to such a fierce confrontation. There are also no definitive studies and conclusions on the impact of the special forces of the occupation regimes of the USSR and Nazi Germany on these events," the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said in a statement.

Attempts to drive a wedge between Ukraine and our strategic partner Poland have intensified significantly since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Currently, the emphasis is on condemning the UPA and banning its symbols, which are now associated with the heroism of the Ukrainian military, who are defending Ukraine and Europe as a whole from the Russian invasion at the cost of their own lives.

In a statement, Ukrainian historians said that the approval of Karol Navrotsky's bill by the Polish side would obviously provoke a negative reaction in Ukraine. According to the current practice, Kyiv will also be forced to take mirror measures and approve legislation to assess the actions of individual units of the Home Army and the Battalions of the Boys.

"We are convinced that a possible escalation of such confrontation, including at the legislative level, will actually meet the interests of the Russian side, which wants us not to strengthen each other, but rather to weaken Ukraine, which is heroically resisting Russian aggression today. We call on our Polish colleagues, historians, politicians, and public figures to exercise maximum prudence in assessing the extremely tragic events of our common history. This common history requires joint consideration and joint decisions. We are ready for an objective, professional and impartial dialog.

We believe that the best way to resolve the issues of our common tragic history would be to continue search and exhumation work on the territories of both countries in order to honor the memory of the victims of those events, both Ukrainians and Poles," the scientists summarized.

Володимир Шкаєв

Poland - Ukraine: reconciliation or confrontation

<span><span><span><b><span><span>Karol Nawrocki's new bills and his view of the Volyn tragedy</span></span></b></span></span></span>

<span><span><span><b><span><span>A look at the controversial issue of the Ukrainian authorities</span></span></b></span></span></span>

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