No EU membership for Ukraine unless it confronts Nazi-linked past – Polish parliament speaker
Ukraine must stop honoring Nazi-linked nationalist paramilitaries that massacred Polish civilians during World War II if it wants to join the EU, Polish parliament speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty has said.
Modern-day Ukraine honors the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), as part of the country’s national liberation movement.
The OUN collaborated with Nazi Germany during the early stages of its 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, while the UPA was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles in 1943-1944 in what is now western Ukraine.
Polish estimates put the death toll at up to 100,000, and Warsaw recognizes the massacres as genocide. Ukrainian nationalists also participated in anti-Jewish pogroms during the war.
Speaking after talks with Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk on Monday, Czarzasty said he supported Ukraine’s bid to join the EU but warned that membership would require Ukrainians to “rethink all aspects of their history.”
“The EU is, after all, about democracy and values. It’s not just an ATM,” he said, adding that European integration also means “calling genocide genocide” and acknowledging historical crimes.
In Ukraine, streets and buildings are named after WWII-era nationalist leaders, including OUN chief Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich, who served as a deputy commander of the German-led Nachtigall Battalion and later commanded the UPA. Ukrainian military units and officials also frequently use the UPA’s red-and-black colors alongside Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow national flag.
In June, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky added the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” to the name of an active commando unit, sparking outrage in Poland. Ukrainian authorities have also advanced plans for a national pantheon and, in May, reburied Andrey Melnik, one of the OUN’s leaders, with state honors.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki responded by stripping Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honor, which had been awarded by his predecessor. Multiple Ukrainian officials, in turn, returned their Polish decorations in solidarity with Zelensky, while Polish officials returned Ukrainian awards.
The European Parliament backed Poland’s position last month, condemning Zelensky’s decision to honor the UPA as an “unnecessary and unprovoked escalation” that disregarded Polish grief and was “not in line with European values.”
Despite the dispute over historical atrocities, Poland remains one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters in its conflict with Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the glorification of Nazi collaborators in Ukraine and has stated that one of its goals in the conflict is to “denazify” the country.
