Head of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance unaware of "breakthrough" in exhumations of Poles in Ukraine

Karol Nawrocki, Head of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance and a presidential candidate, has commented on Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's announcement of a "breakthrough" in the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy. [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: Nawrocki in a comment to the Polish news portal RMF24

Details: Nawrocki, who heads Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, noted that "today we cannot talk about a breakthrough".

"We've been through many such breakthroughs, or rather declarations of such breakthroughs. One of them was announced by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. It did not happen. I don't know what the prime minister considers a breakthrough," said Nawrocki, a presidential candidate backed by the opposition Law and Justice party.

"We're talking about 1,500 villages that have disappeared from the map, 120,000 victims, so it would be a breakthrough to start exhumations. We're ready to fulfil our duties as the Institute of National Remembrance. Will this be a success? We don't know yet. There is no decision yet, we do not know what the prime minister is talking about," Nawrocki said.

Background:

• On 10 January, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that a decision had been made to conduct the first exhumations of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine, though he did not elaborate.
• Commenting on Tusk's statement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed hope for "further implementation of agreements with mutual respect and reciprocity".
• At the end of November, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha issued a joint statement on the issue of exhumations.

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