Poland to make recognition of the Volhynia massacre as genocide a condition for Ukraine’s EU accession

Speaker of the Polish Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty stated that Poland will demand that Ukraine recognize the Volhynia tragedy of 1943–1944 as a genocide of Poles as a condition for the country’s accession to the European Union.

The statement was made at a press conference following a meeting with Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk.

“Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, as I see it, will require Ukrainians to reflect on all aspects of their history. The EU is not an ATM. It also means being able to call a genocide a genocide,” — Czarzasty said.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki had also previously stated that he would make Ukraine’s renunciation of the glorification of the OUN-UPA and their figures a condition for Ukraine’s EU accession. The European Parliament, for its part, stated that the issue of the Volhynia massacre could become a criterion for assessing Ukraine’s progress on the path to the European Union.

Against the backdrop of these statements, the remains of 55 victims of the Volhynia massacre were discovered during exhumation work in the former Polish villages of Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka in Volhynia, including 26 children. The Institute of National Remembrance of Poland established that both Polish villages were attacked on August 30, 1943, by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army with the assistance of Ukrainian residents from neighboring villages.

The editorial team covered the Volhynia tragedy in greater detail in a separate article.