"You started it yourself" – Polish Foreign Minister demands Ukraine not to put Banderites on a pedestal
Ukraine itself is to blame for the worsening relations between Kyiv and Warsaw.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated this during a discussion at the YES forum in Kyiv, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"It was a very unfortunate decision to name a military unit UPA. The UPA was the ideology of a nation without any national minorities, which was associated with ethnic cleansing, which resulted in the deaths of many people.
"Don't put people with controversial histories on a pedestal, because you're doing yourself a disservice here. But if you do, don't be surprised when controversial situations arise," the Polish minister said.
He called for following the example of Germany and France after World War II.
"Do you think they loved each other? No. Reconciliation happens between former enemies, between former friends. The same thing happens between us, between Poles and you," Sikorski insisted.
It's worth noting that Sikorski's party, which controls the parliamentary majority and the government, previously quietly ignored the glorification of Banderites in Ukraine. Now, however, given the mood in Polish society and the approaching elections, it has decided to play up to the electorate.
"You started it yourself" - Polish Foreign Minister demands Ukraine not to put Banderites on a pedestal