During a meeting with residents in Tarnogród on June 2, Sikorski responded to a question regarding President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to grant one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "Heroes of the UPA." This was reported by Polsat News, according to UNN.
Details
"I believe that President Zelenskyy made a mistake," replied the head of Polish diplomacy.
According to him, history is complex, and not all heroes of one country should necessarily be honored by other states, but, in his words, there are certain limits.
"I would expect the Ukrainian side to take our sensitivity on this issue into account. For them, the UPA is associated with resistance to Soviet rule, while for us, it is associated with Volhynia," Sikorski added.
He also noted that behind-the-scenes negotiations are ongoing and expressed hope that the Ukrainian side would find "some way to correct this mistake."
In his opinion, Poland has the right to feel disappointed and demand a correction of this decision; however, Russian narratives and disinformation must not be allowed to drive a wedge between Poland and Ukraine.
"Because in that case, both Ukraine and Poland lose," he concluded.
Recall
On Wednesday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted one of the units of the Special Operations Forces of the AFU the title "named after the Heroes of the UPA."
Following this, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the decision to grant the Ukrainian SOF unit the title "named after the Heroes of the UPA" causes concern regarding bilateral relations and touches upon historical sensitivities, adding that it "unnecessarily brings the issue of historical differences back to a rather alarming level." Meanwhile, the President of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, stated that he takes a critical view of the Ukrainian President's decision and believes that Zelenskyy should be stripped of the Polish Order of the White Eagle.