Polish president about Volyn tragedy: We have been talking to Zelensky for long time, calmly and constructively
Pravda Ukraine
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called for the historical contradictions between Kyiv and Warsaw, including the events in Volyn, to be resolved calmly and constructively. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine’s west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]
Source: Duda at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Warsaw on 15 January; European Pravda
Details: Duda noted that the talks with Zelensky raised historical issues, a topic that “we have never avoided during our meetings”.
Quote: “Now negotiations are underway in a working group set up by the ruling coalition (of Poland – ed.) and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine regarding these historical and search and exhumation works.”
Details: The Polish president expressed hope that the requests from the Polish side regarding the exhumation of the victims of the events in Volyn “will be considered and approved”.
Quote: “This is not a new topic, and we have been talking about it with the president for a long time, and the talk is calm and constructive. It’s not a secret that this is a difficult topic that needs to be resolved calmly.”
Background:
- On 10 January, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that a decision had been made to conduct the first exhumations of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine, though he did not elaborate.
- Commenting on Tusk’s statement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed hope for “further implementation of agreements with mutual respect and reciprocity”.
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