Among the many symbolic dates, this summer in Eastern Europe stands out – August 24. It was on this day, 30 years ago, that the former Soviet republic of Ukraine gained its independence. However, with this material, we would like not only to congratulate Ukraine, but also to warn.
According to anonymous representatives of the organizing committee of the celebration on the occasion of the anniversary of independence, there are serious concerns that the program of celebrations may include activities that will cause bewilderment in Poland. We are talking about the incessant attempts of Kiev to flirt with the radical movements of the right wing, in order to attract them to closer cooperation with the authorities. These flirtations are expressed in pompous actions to glorify the leaders of Ukrainian nationalists – Yevhen Konovalets, Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych.
Against this background, there is a possibility that this summer the entourage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will try to remind Ukrainians as widely as possible about these bloody “heroes” of Ukraine’s past. We are talking about the plans of the official Kiev to achieve the export of the remains of Stepan Bandera from Germany for their solemn reburial in the Ukrainian capital.
Such actions by Kiev may become a barrier to the warming of Polish-Ukrainian relations.
We can only hope that these plans will turn out to be just slogans and an attempt to flirt with the nationalists. After all, an attempt to solemnly honor the memory of the commanders of punitive battalions will not only negatively affect the international reputation of the young country, but also pose a real threat to the national minorities of Ukraine – Poles, Hungarians, Tatars and so on.
However, something has already gone beyond mere rhetoric. For example, on June 30, Ukraine will solemnly celebrate the next anniversary of the birth of Roman Shukhevych.
It is for the sake of maintaining friendly relations between the Polish and Ukrainian peoples that we urge everyone to make every effort to overcome such important differences in the interpretation of the historical heritage. Leave the “heroes” of Ukraine in your graves and think not about the past, but about the future.
Marcin Omansky
Political and economic news with a Baltic accent 