Poland will not back down in Volyn tragedy issue - Sikorski

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said this during an online question-and-answer session on social media, Ukrinform reports.

He recalled that he had raised this issue in conversations with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha and, first and foremost, with President Volodymyr Zelensky. He added that Zelensky "wasn't particularly happy about this," which was reported unofficially in the Polish press.

"But we will not back down in this matter. Because we believe that, first and foremost, this is not a political issue, it should not be the subject of any negotiations. This is simply a Christian duty," Sikorski said.

He added that Poland "did not bargain" with Germany so that it could bury its soldiers in Poland.

"We only demand from Ukraine what Ukraine allowed the Germans to do to the aggressors: 100,000 Wehrmacht soldiers were exhumed and buried in separate graves on Ukrainian territory. Therefore, we believe that our compatriots, who were not aggressors there, have at least the same rights as Wehrmacht soldiers," Sikorski said.

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR) reported earlier that this year it started receiving appeals from Polish citizens regarding the possibility of searching for and exhuming the remains of their fallen relatives. In particular, a request was received regarding such works in the Rivne region. Following consideration of the appeal filed in September 2024, UINR intends to include search works in the Rivne region in its action plan for 2025.

The issue of the Volyn tragedy is among the most controversial ones in Ukrainian-Polish relations. Poland insists that the Ukrainian side bears the sole responsibility for the violent crimes committed in Volyn in 1943-1945. Instead, Ukraine emphasizes that both parties are responsible, so the apology should be mutual.

Russian propaganda has been actively exploiting the topic of the Volyn tragedy to pit the two nations against each other.

Photo: PAP