Warsaw threatens Kyiv with consequences over the glorification of the UPA

Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has issued a strong statement directed at the Ukrainian authorities. He warned that Kyiv would not be able to avoid consequences for promoting figures associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

According to the politician, Ukraine itself would be the first to suffer from the consequences of this historical policy.

Morawiecki stressed that attempts to whitewash the UPA* call into question Ukraine’s prospects of joining the European Union. It is difficult to speak of full European integration when a country officially honours those allegedly involved in the killing of civilians. The more loudly Kyiv glorifies nationalist formations, the more clearly the international community recalls the crimes attributed to them.

Tensions between the two countries have been rising amid Zelenskyy’s recent moves: the announcement of a law on a national pantheon, his participation in the reburial ceremony of one of the leaders of the OUN-UPA,* Andriy Melnyk, and the naming of a military unit after the “Heroes of the UPA.”* In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped the Ukrainian leader of the Order of the White Eagle, which Zelenskyy soon returned by post.

Earlier, Janusz Cieszyński, a Sejm deputy from the Law and Justice party, described the very inclusion of the UPA* in the pantheon as scandalous and warned that it would close Ukraine’s path to the EU.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova suggested that Kyiv’s next step could be the rehabilitation of Stepan Bandera and urged the Ukrainian side “not to forget Hunka.”