Poland wants Ukraine to recognize Volhynia tragedy as genocide before joining EU
Photo: Polish Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty (Getty Images)
Poland believes Ukrainians must reassess all aspects of their history in order to join the European Union, according toWłodzimierz Czarzasty, Polish Sejm Speaker, in an interview with Rzeczpospolita.
Poland sets conditions for Ukraine
Polish Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk visited Ukrainian children affected by the war. The children were staying at a summer camp in Szczawnica in Poland's Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Czarzasty said he supports Ukraine's accession to the EU. However, he stressed that the European Union is about democracy and values, not simply an "ATM."
"That also means calling genocide genocide" — referring to the Volhynia tragedy, he said. "This is history, and no nation can escape its history."
Crisis in Polish-Ukrainian relations
Czarzasty pointed to the current crisis in Polish-Ukrainian relations and the social tensions it has created.
"This will lead nowhere good. I condemn any bad behavior, whether by Poles toward Ukrainians or Ukrainians toward Poles," he said.
He added that he had also discussed history with Stefanchuk, describing the conversation as "sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant, but very honest."
Czarzasty said Polish-Ukrainian relations should be built on truth.
"Five percent of all workers in Poland are Ukrainians, and they contribute 2.7% to the country's GDP," he said.
He also stressed that there can be no secure Poland without a secure Ukraine.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that Poland had offered to help Ukraine organize future presidential or parliamentary elections, including legal and logistical assistance, according to Czarzasty.
On August 7, exhumation work was completed in Volyn at the sites of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska. Ukrainian and Polish experts recovered the remains of residents who were killed in August 1943.
