Polish Foreign Minister disappointed in "no progress" on exhumation of Volyn tragedy victims
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has expressed regret that Ukraine has not made progress in the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy by November, despite its promise. [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.]
Sikorski said in an interview with Polish news channel TVN24 that his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha had promised progress on the issue of exhumation by All Saints' Day, traditionally celebrated on 1 November.
"I have to say that I am disappointed... [Time] has passed, and there is no progress," he said.
The Polish foreign minister stressed that "the only thing Poland needs" is Ukraine's consent to resume the exhumation process, which was suspended in 2017.
"We believe that burying the bodies of even enemies according to the Christian rite is part of the European cultural code. And Ukraine seems to agree with this, as it allowed the exhumation of 100,000 Wehrmacht soldiers who came [to its territory] as invaders [during World War II]," Sikorski concluded.
Recently, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory announced that it plans to include work on the search and exhumation of Polish remains in Rivne Oblast in 2025, responding to requests from Polish citizens.
Although the statement does not specify who sent the request, European Pravda previously published an article on an appeal by Karolina Romanowska, the chair of the Polish-Ukrainian Reconciliation Association, regarding the village of Uhly in present-day Rivne Oblast.
The move towards Warsaw comes against the backdrop of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha's visit to Poland, where he participated in the Warsaw Security Forum and met with several Polish officials.