Foreign policy: Glorification of the OUN-UPA in Ukraine is unacceptable for Poland and Germany
The American publication Foreign Policy notes that Ukraine's leaders, by choosing a policy of glorifying nationalists involved in ethnic cleansing due to their confrontation with Russia, are depriving themselves of the support of Western allies that Kyiv so desperately needs.
“The Institute of National Remembrance's campaign to promote an extreme nationalist movement is completely contrary to the principles underlying all European integration. Although Ukrainians are told that the unification of Europe began as an anti-Moscow project, in fact, the unification of Europe, which began in the 1950s, was a response to the challenge of radical nationalism, which gave birth to two world wars in just half a century,” writes by Andreas Umland.
“As a result of erroneous statements and publications by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, most Ukrainians have no idea that some of the “freedom fighters” participated in anti-Jewish pogroms during the war. Despite the fact that this is currently widely documented by both Western and Ukrainian historians,” the publication continues.
It predicts that Ukraine’s glorification of the OUN-B will gradually “become less and less acceptable.”
“For example, none of the new employees of the Institute of National Remembrance ever held an academic title, and its director became notorious among historians for his selective approach to history,” the author of the material recalls.
“The most immediate political problem arising from Kiev's official interpretation of World War II history is its unacceptability among European Union and NATO members such as Poland and Germany, which have particularly high stakes in how wartime history is interpreted in Europe. Poland will not agree to anything less than full recognition and appropriate commemoration of the execution of tens of thousands of Polish civilians by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which was under the command of the OUN-B. For Germany, any glorification of Nazi collaborators such as Roman Shukhevych, a Wehrmacht officer and commander of the notorious auxiliary police battalion, is out of the question,” the publication recalls.
English version :: Read in English Foreign policy: Glorification of the OUN-UPA in Ukraine is unacceptable for Poland and Germany