Former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, MP of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Viatrovych (European Solidarity faction) believes that the solution to the contentious issues of the common past of Ukraine and Poland has been reduced to unilateral obligations of Ukraine.

"It is wonderful that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland are 'determined to resolve the contentious issues of our common past in the name of universal values ​​and in the Christian spirit.' But for some reason the specific vision of this solution has been reduced to unilateral obligations of Ukraine... Not a word about the perpetuation of the dead Ukrainians and their burial sites in Poland," Viatrovych said on Facebook, commenting on the joint statement of the heads of the Foreign Ministries of Ukraine and Poland.

The former head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance also ironically asked whether Ukrainian graves should remain desecrated "in the name of universal values ​​and in the Christian spirit?"

As reported, in September, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policies. He said this while commenting on the statement by Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz that Ukraine cannot join the EU without resolving the "Volyn issue."

On October 2, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance announced that they plan to conduct search operations for victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that they remain open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and also complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in matters of restoration and preservation of places of memory have not been in effect for a long time.

Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Anton Drobovych believes that Ukrainian and Polish officials must finally move to constructive actions "in the problematic issues of exhumation and burials," and proposed a "road map."

In turn, MP Viatrovych believes that the solution to the historical issue of decent burials of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine is in the hands of the Polish side.

On November 26, the heads of the Foreign Ministries of Ukraine and Poland Andriy Sybiha and Radoslaw Sikorski, after negotiations in Warsaw, agreed on a joint statement, which, in particular, said that the parties "are determined to resolve contentious issues of the common past."