Tusk about Volyn tragedy: I will not allow dramatic history of Poland to be used in political games
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he would not allow the issue of the Volyn tragedy to be used in "political games."
He said this at a press conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Censor.NET reports citing Interfax-Ukraine.
Tusk assured of his intention to consistently work on a "quick, systematic solution" to this problem.
According to him, Ukraine and Poland are finding "a common language and methods of joint action" when it comes to the Volyn tragedy "and these delicate, dramatic issues of our history.
They require sympathy from Ukraine for Poland and from Poland for Ukraine. It has to go hand in hand. I will not allow this complicated, dramatic history of Poland to be used in any political games, but I will also work very consistently to resolve this problem quickly and systematically," Tusk emphasized.
Questions about the exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy
As reported, in September, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that without resolving the issue of the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy , Ukraine cannot dream of joining the EU.At the same time, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policy.
During his visit to Warsaw on October 1, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that Ukraine was ready to discuss with Poland controversial issues of common history, including the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.
On October 2, the UINP stated that they plan to conduct search operations for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that it remains open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for the places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in the restoration and preservation of places of memory have not been in place for a long time.
Drobovich believes that Ukrainian and Polish officials need to finally move to constructive action "in the problematic issues of exhumation and burials," and proposed a "road map."
On October 4 , the Polish Defense Minister reaffirmed his intention to block Ukraine's accession to the EU until the issue of exhumation and commemoration of the victims of the Volyn tragedy is resolved.
On November 26, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, after speaking with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga, said that Kyiv had assured him that there were no obstacles to the search and exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine.
On January 11, the Ministry of Culture reported that Ukraine and Poland had exchanged lists of places to search for and exhume the remains of mutual historical conflicts. Kyiv is committed to "positive decisions" on this issue.
