Polish foreign minister urges Ukraine to permit exhumation of Poles killed in Volyn as soon as possible – video
After several days of silence, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has urged Ukraine to permit the search for and exhumation of Poles killed during ethnic cleansing in Volyn during the Second World War as soon as possible.
Source: an address by Sikorski posted on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda
Details: In the caption to his address, Sikorski stated that Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, had "made a mistake" in his widely-publicised response to a question during a meeting with Polish young people in the city of Olsztyn.
Minister Kułeba popełnił błąd, więc lepiej, żeby Ukraina załatwiła sprawę ekshumacji jak najszybciej, w duchu wdzięczności Polsce za to, co dzisiaj dla Ukrainy robimy. pic.twitter.com/LiRndCG8IS
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) September 3, 2024
Quote: "Our compatriots deserve a decent burial. Ukraine must understand the dark pages of its history. Indeed, it can be understood from his [Dmytro Kuleba's – ed.] response that I had already raised the question of the need to resume exhumation during our bilateral conversations," Sikorski said.
He recalled that Poland will have a say during the decisions on closing negotiation chapters on Ukraine's path to EU membership.
"Therefore, it is better for Ukraine to resolve this issue as soon as possible in a spirit of gratitude to Poland for what we are doing for Ukraine today," Sikorski added.
This is the first time Sikorski has commented on the matter since Dmytro Kuleba responded to a question about exhumations at a conference with young Poles in Olsztyn – while sitting next to Radosław Sikorski. Sikorski has also been criticised by right-wing politicians for his lack of reaction to Kuleba's remarks.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also criticised Kuleba's remarks, pointing out that Ukraine will not become a member of the EU without Poland's consent, and that in order to get that consent, Ukraine will have to align with certain cultural and political standards.
On 2 September, a Polish citizen submitted the first private request to Ukraine regarding the exhumation of her relatives killed in Rivne Oblast.
60,000 to 120,000 Poles lost their lives in what is known as the Volhynian-Galician tragedy (1943-1945).
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