Decision made on first exhumations of Volyn tragedy victims – Polish foreign minister

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that a decision has been made to conduct the first exhumations of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, calling it a breakthrough. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]

Source: European Pravda with reference to the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and Tusk's post on X (Twitter)

Quote from Tusk: "Finally, a breakthrough. A decision has been made to begin the first exhumations of Polish victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. I want to thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for their teamwork. We await further decisions." [The  Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and partisan formation active in 1942-1960. It was fighting to liberate Ukraine from occupying powers and set up an independent government – ed.]

Details: Oleksii Chernyshov, Ukraine's Minister of National Unity, visited Poland and met with Polish Culture Minister Hanna Wróblewska on Thursday, 9 January.

"The ministers discussed the key role of culture in preserving national identity and its impact on the socio-economic development of both countries," the Polish Ministry of Culture stated.

Tusk announced the decision to initiate the first exhumations of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy the following day, on 10 January.

Background:

• Warsaw said that resolving historical disputes would be one of the prerequisites for Ukraine's accession to the EU.
• The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said that it plans the search and exhumation of Polish remains in Rivne Oblast in 2025, responding to requests from Polish citizens.
• In late November, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha issued a joint statement addressing the issue of exhumations of victims of the Volyn tragedy, which had been a contentious point in relations between the two nations.

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