Tomasz Siemoniak in the Podcast of Virtual Poland assessed that the Ukrainian decision about the name of the military unit referring to UPA is simply a blow to the Polish heart and a case that cannot be defended. For Poland it means a test: to aid Ukraine against Russia, but without the surrender of memory.
Blow to Polish Memory
Minister of peculiar Services Tomasz Siemoniak in the podcast of Virtual Poland “Without Doctrine” spoke about tensions in Polish-Ukrainian relations after the decision of the authorities in Kiev concerning the name of the military unit referring to UPA. According to the WP, the politician assessed that specified a decision was a blow to the Polish national heart and is indefensible.
Those are strong words, but strong words are needed in this matter. The Ukrainian Povs Dance Army is not a neutral historical abbreviation for Poles. It is connected with the memory of the massacre of Volyn and anti-Polish force that affected the civilian population. The Polish State is obliged to respond erstwhile the symbol of specified formation goes to the contemporary military ceremony of the neighbour.
This is not about hostility towards Ukraine as a nation. It is about simple fact and respect for Polish victims. Kiev, which expects political, logistical and military support from Warsaw, must not underestimate the deepest wounds of Polish memory.
Realism does not mean silence
Siemoniak stressed earlier that Polish actions towards Ukraine must be taken from the point of view of the Polish interest. TVN24 cited his June 1 rating that honoring UPA is fatal for PolandIt is not in our interest to break up with Ukraine. That's the right starting point.
Poland does not request hysteria. He needs politics. Russia remains an opponent who has been trying to break up Central Europe for years, and Moscow's triumph in Ukraine would worsen Poland's security. However, this does not mean that we are to pay for safety with silence about Volyn.
This is where you see the difference between national realism and naive clientelism. Realism says: we support what serves the safety of Poland. Clientelism says, let's not irritate our partner, even erstwhile he's trampling on our memory. The National diary stands on the side of the first stance.
Warsaw speaks with 1 voice
A study on Siemoniak's conversation at TOK FM was published on the government's peculiar Services website. The minister said Poland expects to retreat from this decision and that the word UPA should not fall in the name of any Ukrainian military unit. This position should be a minimum cross-party consensus.
If in this case the Polish political class starts playing exclusively for their own camp, Kiev will get a convenient excuse. He'll say it's just a Polish home disturbance. You can't let that happen. The UPA case is not part of the current organization tactics. It concerns the dignity of the state and the memory of families murdered.
DN has already written that Kiev loses the hearts of Poles due to specified decisions. It's not a small imagery. During the war, the morale of allies, social trust and public conviction are of real political value. Ukraine should realize this better than anyone.
Volyn is not a bargaining chip
Polish aid to Ukraine was huge. exile admission, military support, logistics, transport corridors, diplomatic force in the West. It's not fair to erase. All the more so, the Polish public has the right to anticipate a common minimum: respect for the fact about Polish victims and a clear cut off of the modern Ukrainian state from the OUN-UPA symbolism.
There is no place for inexpensive spells about a "difficult history" that do not solve anything. Tough past requires exhumation, names, crosses, documents, education and political decisions. It besides requires giving up gestures that sound like a cheek in Poland.
In a separate text, DN indicated that OUN and UPA dispute returns at Kiev's next decisions. It shows that the problem is not an incident. It is simply a symptom of a deeper conflict between Ukrainian memory policy and Polish historical experience.
Tough relationship or none
The most honest relation with Ukraine must be hard. Poland can be a partner, a base and a voice of reason in the West. He can't be a country that gives up its own dead in the name of war.
Siemoniak is right erstwhile he says that reason commands cooperation. But Polish reason cannot be separated from Polish heart. The heart remembers Volyn. A state that does not realize this loses its ability to represent its own people.
Kiev should retreat from this decision. Warsaw should say it calmly, officially and without complexes. Aid against Russia is not a subscription to Polish silence.
Source: Virtual Poland, TVN24, Gov.pl.
Source: WP News
