Polish presidency candidate: Don't see Ukraine in EU due to Volhynia Massacre

Karol Nawrocki on the TV program "Guest of Events". Photo: Polsat News

The head of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland and presidential candidate from the Law and Justice party, Karol Nawrocki, said during a broadcast on Polsat News that he currently does not see Ukraine as a member of the European Union or NATO. He explained his position by referencing the unresolved issue of exhumation of victims of the Volhynia Massacre, according to Yevropeiska Pravda.

"Today, I do not see Ukraine in any structure – neither the European Union nor NATO – until such important civilizational issues for Poles are resolved. A country that cannot answer for a very brutal crime against 120,000 of its neighbors cannot be part of international alliances," he said.

At the same time, Nawrocki emphasized that Poles have supported and continue to support Ukrainians.

In his opinion, the agreement on exhumation, reached between Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, was an "unnecessary trick by the Polish diplomat," and the entire issue was "introduced into an internal campaign" when Sikorski was competing with Rafał Trzaskowski for a presidential nomination.

"We at the Institute of National Remembrance have already experienced about a dozen potential breakthroughs on this issue, so for me, the enthusiasm of the head of Polish diplomacy was premature.

I want to state clearly that the Institute of National Remembrance (...) can support government efforts on the issue of exhumation in Volhynia. Here, the Polish cause is far more important to us. A breakthrough would be desirable, but it hasn't happened yet," the head of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland explained.

Nawrocki clarified that as President of the Republic of Poland, he "would make it clear to the Ukrainian side that our financial efforts, the efforts of our citizens, and our military assistance that helped Ukraine should be met with a partnership attitude from the Ukrainian side and the opportunity to bury our women and children."

As the UOJ previously reported, the head of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland had earlier emphasized that it is impossible to become part of European civilization without respecting the dead and allowing the burial of 120,000 people.

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