The office of Polish President Karol Nawrocki criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement that he would submit a bill on a National Pantheon.
The statement was published by the Office of the President of Poland.
Warsaw said Zelensky’s initiative was “another stage of escalatory actions” by the Ukrainian authorities.
Nawrocki’s office linked the announcement to a decision made at the end of May to name one of Ukraine’s military units after the “heroes of the UPA.”
“President Zelensky announced the submission of a law on the National Pantheon — this is another stage of escalatory actions by the Ukrainian authorities after the decision at the end of May to name one of the military units after the ‘heroes of the UPA,’” the Polish president’s office said.
The statement also said that these actions, in Nawrocki’s team’s view, confirm the correctness of his position on Ukrainian-Polish historical issues.
The office recalled that Nawrocki had earlier said he would strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, and later carried out that decision.
The statement also said that after criticism of Nawrocki from Poland’s current authorities, the country’s leaders, according to his office, are now “admitting that the president was right.”
“President Nawrocki’s firm defense of Polish affairs is justified,” the office said.
The bill on the National Pantheon announced by Zelensky is expected to concern the commemoration of Ukrainians who played an outstanding role in the country’s history. At the same time, the issue of historical memory in Poland, especially matters related to the UPA and the Volyn tragedy, remains one of the most sensitive topics in relations with Ukraine.
