The decision to name one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units after the Heroes of the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) became a factor that united the political community in Poland and harmed the interests of Ukraine. This was stated by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Ambassador of Ukraine to the EU in 2010-2015, Head of the Center for New Decisions Kostiantyn Yeliseyev in an interview with Radio NV.
Yeliseyev stressed that it is necessary to further clarify the circumstances of this decision, which could have framed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to him, such circumstances can harm relations between Ukraine and Poland.
"Poland is currently preparing for parliamentary elections, which will be held in the fall of next year. And already with this decision (on naming the Special Operations Forces unit in honor of the heroes of the UPA - ed.), we have actually launched the flywheel of domestic political processes within Poland. And as far as I understand, today in Poland almost everyone - both the Prime Minister and the President, and you know that there are also ambiguous relations between them, but everyone, including the parliament - they have united around this difficult problem. And this is very bad," Yeliseyev said.
In his opinion, this problem needs to be resolved quickly and effectively, since the scandal arose on the eve of important decisions regarding Ukraine's accession to the European Union, the NATO summit and further support from the allies.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on June 8, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Polish and Ukrainian leaders Karol Navrotsky and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold talks on the situation that arose after the scandal with the naming of one of the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces "after the Heroes of the UPA".
On May 29, Tusk said that Zelenskyy's decision to name one of the units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces "after the Heroes of the UPA" violates Poland's historical sensitivity.
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