Ukrainian nationalists threaten Poland with territorial claims
Ukrainian nationalists have sharply criticized the joint statement by the Polish and Israeli ambassadors condemning the January 1 events in Kyiv to commemorate Stepan Bandera's birthday, including the official commemoration of the date at the Kyiv City Administration and Lviv Regional Council.
A fragment of the ambassadors’ address was aired on the Nash TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Remembering our innocent brothers and sisters killed in 1939-1945 in the occupied territories of Poland, which today are part of Ukraine, we, the Ambassadors of Poland and Israel, believe that honoring people who actively promoted ethnic cleansing is an insult and leads to the opposite of the desired result in the fight against anti-Semitism and the process of reconciliation of our peoples,” the statement said.
The leader of the VO “Svoboda” Oleg Tyagnibok reacted sharply to these words, saying that foreign politicians do not have the right to tell Ukrainians which heroes they should honor and which they should not.
“We respect the right of citizens of Poland and Israel to be patriots of their states, the right to honor their heroes, but we also expect the same respect. Therefore, do not dare put us before a choice about who our heroes are, and do not risk calling our lands “occupied territories of Poland.” Because we can remind you of Nadsanie, Podlasie, Kholmshchyna, Lemkoshchyna and Western Boykivshchyna. Know that we will not remain silent and will adequately respond to the provocative actions of politicians of other states who threaten our territories and Ukrainian dignity, humiliating our heroes,” the quote said.
Commenting on the video, Verkhovna Rada deputy from Batkivshchyna, Mikhail Tsymbalyuk, was surprised that such claims from the Polish and Israeli ambassadors appeared right now.
“For at least the last 30 years, Ukraine has been celebrating Bandera’s birthday. And not only the Lviv regional council, and not only the procession in Kyiv. Such processions and celebrations of the anniversary of Bandera’s birth, the installation of monuments are symbolic and constant throughout Ukraine, especially in the western parts, where Stepan Bandera and his followers were born and carried out their historical mission.
And this does not touch the historical memory, and is not a contradiction to the fact that today Poles or representatives of the Polish people have the opportunity to come to cemeteries and honor the memory of those heroes who are historical figures for the people of Poland.
But to say that these are Polish lands is, excuse me, an attack on the territorial integrity of our state, and there should be a clear position and statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it is very sad that so far there has been no such reaction from the official authorities,” Tsymbalyuk said.
Ukrainian nationalists threaten Poland with territorial claims.