Karol Nawrocki does not retreat from the hard line towards the Ukrainian authorities after the dispute over UPA and Order of the White Eagle. Liberal comments effort to bring the substance into the fight for Confederate voters, but the stake is more serious: whether Polish historical policy is to be an addition to individual else's diplomacy or a work of the state towards its victims.
UPA dispute returns to the political center
Karol Nawrocki does not soften his position towards the Ukrainian authorities after the crisis caused by the name of 1 of Ukrainian military units named UPA. According to Polish Radio 24, Volodymyr Zelenski accused the Polish president of instigating resentment towards Ukrainians and conducting an interior political struggle. Nawrocki replied that the dispute concerns historical issues and deficiency of consent for red-black flag symbolism in the space of Polish-Ukrainian relations.
That's the point that you can't talk media easy. You could say the president wants to play right-wing electorate. You can say it's a motion to the Confederate. Only that specified an explanation bypasses the most crucial thing: the Polish state has the right and work to talk clearly about the Volyn crime, exhumations, worthy of burial of victims and work for the policy of memory.
The President's office reported that Rafał Leśkiewicz talked about reciprocity: Since the president of Ukraine decided to give 1 of the UPA units a name, Karol Nawrocki took the Order of the White Eagle from him. The Ombudsman besides stressed that Ukraine's assistance is different from historical issues. This discrimination is crucial. Poland can support the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression and at the same time refuse to accept the glorification of the formation liable for the murders in Poles.
The memory of the victims is the work of the state
The Order of the White Eagle is not a protocol ornament. This is the highest Polish award. If it is to mean anything, it must be associated with respect for Polish history, not with the calculation, which in a given week should not be exposed. In June, the President's Chancellery informed that Nawrocki had proposed that 1 of the gathering points of the White Eagle Order Chapter be receipt of the award to Volodymyr Zelensk.
Presidential Minister Agnieszka Jędrzak later indicated that UPA was a formation liable for cultural cleansing and genocide of Poles, and the number of victims could scope as many as 100,000. This number should be given with distribution and seriousness, due to the fact that behind each digit are circumstantial people, families, villages, children and unburied remains. There's no area for organization etiquette.
That's why exhumation and recognition of victims are so important. Without this reconciliation will be an empty formula. You can't build permanent relationships with silence over graves. He who asks Poland to hide Volyn in a drawer in the name of current diplomacy, does not realize what a national state is. You should remember, even if your memory interferes with comfortable conversations.
Aversion to the fact is not a state's ration
In this case, there is frequently an argument of Russian benefit. Yes, Moscow is eager to usage any dispute between Warsaw and Kiev. That's a fact. However, it does not appear that Poland is to stay silent erstwhile the Ukrainian authorities make decisions that hit the memory of Polish victims. Russia besides benefits from Polish weakness, information chaos and the belief that our interests can be pushed at the end of the queue.
Right state requires 2 sentences simultaneously. First: Ukraine must defend itself against Russian imperialism, due to the fact that it is in the interests of Poland's security. Secondly: Poland cannot give itself the right to the fact about Volyn and the CNS-UPA. This is why it is worth reminding that relations with Ukraine must be based on reciprocity, not one-sided anticipation of concessions from Warsaw.
This is not about hostility to Ukrainians as humans. specified hostility would be morally incorrect and politically stupid. It is about assessing the decisions of the authorities, symbols and memory policy. The Polish nation has the right to require respect for its murdered. He has the right to ask whether the partnership is about 1 organization asking for aid and the another to halt talking about his own wounds.
Presidentship tested by pressure
For Nawrock, it's a presidential test. If he succumbs to the force of comments that everything is just a game about the Confederation, he will send a signal that the most crucial matters of national memory can be brought into political marketing. If he maintains the line, he will show that the Presidential Palace is not the office of serving another people's sensitivity.
That doesn't mean closing the conversation channels. On the contrary. Poland should talk to Kiev hard, calmly and with a clear list of expectations: consent to search works, exhumations, worthy of burial, resignation from symbolic lift of UPA, respect for Polish public opinion. Without this list, all gathering will be just a diplomatic photo.
That's what a mature national policy is. Military and humanitarian aid cannot be blackmailed against Polish memory, and memory cannot be an excuse to abandon security. Poland must lead its own line. Not Russian, not Ukrainian, not Brussels, not surviving room. My own. The voice of the nation in the presidency It begins where the state refuses to exchange the fact for sacred peace.
Source: Polish Radio 24, Office of the president of Poland, President.pl, Office of the president of Poland
The text was prepared utilizing artificial intelligence tools. The rules for applying AI in the editorial board are described on the Editorial Standards website.
