Neither party benefits from the historical conflict between Ukraine and Poland, Ukrainian Ambassador in Poland believes
Neither party benefits from the historical conflict between Ukraine and Poland. We need to remember the complicated historical past, so that the horrors of that time never happen again.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Andriy Deshchytsia said this during the memorial service for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Warsaw, Ukrinform reported.
“We honor the victims, remembering the tragic events and the understanding of preventing the repetition of terrible events – fratricide. When there is a conflict between Ukraine and Poland, neither party will win,” Deshchytsia said.
He stressed that a complex historical past should be left to historians, and diplomats should remember and honor the victims of the Volyn tragedy.
Ukrainian diplomats, representatives of the Ukrainian community of Poland, members of the Sejm took part in the funeral.
Thereafter, Ukrainians, in particular Ambassador Deshchytsa and Head of the Ukrainian Association in Poland Petro Tyma laid a wreath on behalf of Ukrainians and lit candles near the monument to the victims of the tragedy in the Volynska Square of Warsaw.
As the agency informed, in Poland on July 11, they commemorate the victims of the Volyn tragedy. Last year, in July, the Sejm of Poland adopted a resolution regarding the Volyn tragedy, calling it the “genocide of the Polish people" and establishing July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance.
Ukraine and Poland have different attitudes to events in the Volyn and in Eastern Galicia between 1943 and 1944. Polish historians place responsibility for the murder of the civilian population exclusively with the OUN and the UPA, and most Ukrainian historians are convinced that both sides are responsible for these crimes. In Poland, it is believed that as a result of ethnic cleansing, more than 100,000 Poles and 5-10 thousands of Ukrainians died. Instead, in Ukraine several tens of thousands of killed Poles and up to 20 thousand of Ukrainians are reported.
