Poland won't allow Ukraine to join EU without resolving historical issues - Polish Prime Minister

Background

As reported, on Wednesday, August 28, during a meeting between Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, Kuleba was asked about the historical issues that "divide our countries."

In response, Kuleba stated that if we start digging into history, Ukrainians and Poles could blame each other for various negative events. Therefore, it would be better for both countries to build the future together and leave history to historians.

Tusk's reaction

The head of the Polish government, Donald Tusk, expressed that he does not want the contentious issues in Polish-Ukrainian relations to serve as an alibi for those with "pro-Russian tendencies."

Tusk criticized the Ukrainian Foreign Minister's statement, adding that Ukraine must meet Polish expectations, not by burying history, but by establishing relations based on the truth about that history.

"Ukraine will not become a member of the European Union without Poland's consent. Ukraine must meet standards, and they are diverse—not only in terms of borders, trade, legal, and economic standards. It is also a matter of what I would call cultural-political standards," he said.

According to Tusk, during Poland's presidency in the Council of the European Union (EU), Warsaw will clearly explain to Kyiv that settling Polish-Ukrainian relations is in its best interest.

Ukraine's EU accession

In June 2022, Ukraine was granted candidate status for EU membership. The following year, in December 2023, the political union supported the opening of negotiations.

In June 2024, the European Commission called on member states of the political bloc to start discussions on the integration of Ukraine and Moldova. Ultimately, the negotiation framework for Ukraine was agreed upon on June 14.