The Volhynia massacre in 1943, the subject that divides Poland and Ukraine
Polish flag. © AP - Michal Dyjuk
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1 min
The tone rose between Poland and Ukraine this weekend. However, very close to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Poland has become the greatest ally of its Ukrainian neighbor, some subjects are not seen in the same way from Kiev or Warsaw.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw, Martin Chabal
The Volhynia massacre continues to be debated. And this is what has provoked the anger of the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland in recent days.
This massacre took place during World War II, in what was eastern Poland, now Ukraine. Nearly 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukraine's insurgent army. Poland called the massacre genocide in 2016, but Ukraine did not, which acknowledges the atrocities committed.
And as we prepare for the 80th anniversary of the commemoration of this massacre, on the Warsaw side, they have publicly called on Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, to apologize.
For Poland, the tension around the memory of the victims of the massacre is a nerve center in their relations and the issue must be resolved in order to be able to collaborate more serenely.
Because if Poland and Ukraine have become very friendly, there are still some tensions. We also saw this with the Ukrainian grain crisis, which destabilized the Polish market and angered farmers. And while Poland is pushing to see its Ukrainian ally integrate the European Union as soon as possible, it knows that some problems could resurface if it were to be integrated into the common market. This is also why Poland is raising sensitive issues, which Ukraine does not prefer to address for the moment.
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Read on on the same topics:
- Ukraine
- Poland
- History
- World War II
- Volodymyr Zelensky
- Diplomacy