Tusk hails Kyiv's decision on exhumations of Ukrainian nationalists victims
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has welcomed Kyiv's decision to conduct the first exhumations of the remains of Poles murdered by Ukrainian nationalists during WWII.
In 1943-1945, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) carried out ethnic cleansing of some 100,000 Polish men, women and children in Volhynia, a historic eastern region of Poland which today is part of Ukraine.
The crime, which earned the name 'Volhynia Massacre' remains a contentious issue in Ukrainian-Polish relations. While Poland regards it an act of genocide Ukraine argues it was a part of a broader conflict for which both sides are responsible. Warsaw has repeatedly submitted requests to Kyiv for the search and exhumation of the remains of Poles killed during the tragic events.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity of Ukraine Oleksiy Chernyshov visited Poland and met with Minister of Culture and National Heritage Hanna Wroblewska.
"The ministers discussed the key role of culture in maintaining national identity, as well as the influence of culture on the socio-economic development of both countries," the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage reported.
On Friday afternoon, Tusk took to the X platform to announce that "finally" there has been a breakthrough.
"There is a decision on the first exhumations of Polish victims of the UPA. I would like to thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for their good cooperation. We are waiting for further decisions," he wrote.
Later on Friday, spokesman for Polish foreign ministry, Pawel Wronski, told PAP that the decision regarding the first exhumations of Polish victims of the UPA is "good for Polish-Ukrainian relations and for Ukraine itself".
"It is very important to create historical awareness and base it on truth. This serves Ukraine as a European nation", he said.
Since spring 2017, Poland and Ukraine have been at odds over the ban on the search and exhumation of Polish war and conflict victims in Ukraine, imposed by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory after a Ukrainian Insurgent Army monument was dismantled in Hruszowice, south-eastern Poland, in April 2017.
In late November last year Ukraine officially lifted a long-standing moratorium on search and exhumation operations, paving the way for the recovery of Polish victims of the Volhynia Massacre. The decision, which ends a ban, in place since 2017, was announced during a joint press conference of Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Radoslaw Sikorski and Andriy Sybiha.(PAP)
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