EU Parliament Slams Ukraine for ‘Disregarding Polish Sensitivities’ by Glorifying Nazis
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the plenary during her first State of the Union speech at the European Parliament in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — European Parliament lawmakers on Wednesday condemned Ukraine for naming a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA, banned in Russia as an extremist organization), arguing that this move disregarded Poland’s «sensitivities» as the UPA had committed multiple crimes against Poles during World War II. «Regarding the renaming of an elite military unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the heroes of the UPA, MEPs regret the disregard for Polish sensitivities and grief and consider that this decision undermines neighbourly relations, calling for de-escalation and renewed efforts in good faith towards reconciliation,» the European Parliament said on its website. Relations between Poland and Ukraine soured in late May, after Vladimir Zelensky granted the name «Heroes of the UPA» to a military unit. After that, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor bestowed upon him in 2023 by Nawrocki’s predecessor, Andrzej Duda. The UPA, which was the armed wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN, banned in Russia as extremist), collaborated with the German Nazis and fought against Soviet troops during World War II. The OUN-UPA has numerous crimes to its name, including the Volhynia massacre, the mass extermination of the Polish population in Volhynia in 1943. Thousands of Ukrainians who refused to cooperate with the nationalists were also brutally killed at that time.
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