Poland sets condition for Ukraine’s EU accession

Poland will block Ukraine's European Union accession until Kyiv solves the issue of exhuming the victims of the Volhynia massacre, which has been a contentious issue between the two countries, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced plans to allow field research in 2025 into the Volyn massacre in the western Rivne region, a dark episode of massacres by Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War.

Poland has praised Ukraine's decision to pave the way for the exhumation of some victims of World War II-era massacres after a dispute over the issue soured relations between the neighbours.

“There will be no consent for Ukraine to join the European Union if it does not resolve the Volhynia issue,” Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz told the Wirtualna Polska news outlet.

He added that he had not changed his mind, even though he knew President Andrzej Duda had a different opinion.

Duda has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion and is a close friend of his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He added that even if EU member states agreed to Ukraine's accession to the bloc, his Polish People's Party (PSL, EPP) would block the decision if the issue remained unresolved.

The Polish government estimates that around 100,000 Poles and 5,000 Ukrainians were killed in the Rivne and Volyn regions of present-day western Ukraine between 1943 and 1945.

The main aims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) were to win Ukraine's independence by driving out Nazi and later Soviet occupiers and to expel Poles from what it claimed was historically Ukrainian land.

'Ukraine seems to have forgotten of Poland’s support'

In order to join the EU, a country “must meet certain conditions, not only economic, but also those regarding the historic truth,” Kosiniak-Kamysz argued.

He disagreed with the widely-criticised statement made last month by Ukraine’s then-foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who said that historical issues such as the Volhynia massacre should be left to historians so that the focus can shift to building a shared future.

For Kosiniak-Kamysz, this is “the worst formulation that can be used.”

The defence minister also rejected Duda's opinion that "anyone who blocks Ukraine's accession to the EU is acting in line with Vladimir Putin's policy".

“I fundamentally disagree with this [...] Coming to terms with the past and respect for the members of a bloc a country wants to join is essential,” he said.

“We were the first to send military aid (to Ukraine after the Russian invasion had started), and the Ukrainian side appears to have forgotten of this aid.”

When asked about the risk that conditioning Ukraine's accession to the EU could contribute to anti-Ukrainian resentment in Polish society, he replied that the most honest thing to do was to set clear conditions and express expectations transparently.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)