A member of the Ukrainian Parliament and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko is calling for the restoration of the Ukrainian-Polish strategic partnership and emphasizes that a strong alliance with Poland is in Ukraine’s national interest.
"Packages containing medals have been sent to Warsaw. We’ve all given vent to our understandable emotions. But now everyone needs to calm down… Ukrainian-Polish relations are not a platform for hype, mutual insults, and political capitalizing on emotions. It is time to stop the escalation where a cool head, professional diplomacy, and statesmanlike responsibility are needed," Poroshenko said in a video address published on the political party’s website.
According to him, Ukraine and Poland may have disagreements regarding agricultural policy, transport companies, competition, memory policies, and so on, but all of this must be resolved "through diplomacy, communication, and respect-not through bickering on social media-and without making claims about each other’s history textbooks; let scholars, not politicians, deal with those."
"My proposals and those of our team are as follows. First-stop the public escalation. Second-immediately conduct an audit of Ukraine’s policy toward Poland: who is responsible, what is the strategy, what are the communication channels, what are the problems, and what are the solutions. Third, to return to professional diplomacy-not a spectacle, not insults, not communication through the media, not public blackmail, not a contest over who can respond to the Poles in the sharpest and most hurtful way-but systematic engagement with the Polish state and Polish society… Fourth, separate emotions from the national interest, because Ukraine’s national interest lies in a strong alliance with Poland, Poland’s support for Ukraine in the EU and NATO, and joint security and deterrence against Russia," the politician said.
Poroshenko also said the opening of all negotiation clusters with the EU in July of this year also depends on Poland, and "we must not underestimate the risks here-the window of opportunity is very narrow."
As previously reported, on June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced the decision to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, citing differences regarding historical memory and attitudes toward the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). According to him, for the majority of Polish society, the UPA remains a formation responsible for crimes against citizens of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Second World War. Nawrocki also expressed his disagreement with Zelenskyy’s decision to award the Pivnich (North) Separate Special Operations Center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces an honorary name in honor of the Heroes of the UPA.
Poroshenko also announced that he was declining the Polish Order of the White Eagle and stated that Nawrocki’s decision was a mistake, but noted that his gratitude to Poland for supporting Ukraine and Ukrainians during difficult times remains unchanged, and he called for finding a way out of the crisis in relations.
