Sikorski: Ukraine Should Choose Its Heroes Carefully

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called on Ukrainian politicians to choose carefully the historical figures they honor publicly.

According to him, every country has the right to designate its own heroes but must take account of reactions abroad if it honors people associated with war crimes.

The head of Polish diplomacy noted that Ukraine has many true heroes of the current resistance against Russia but said that some figures from the past have left a controversial legacy.

He described the Ukrainian Insurgent Army as a movement with a fascist ideology but acknowledged that Poland, too, has its share of controversial heroes.

Sikorski cited Croatia, which faced objections during its European Union accession process for glorifying wartime fascists. He expressed hope that Ukraine would one day join the European community.

He sees the resumption of exhumations of victims of the Volhynia massacres and of Ukrainian victims in Poland, followed by their dignified burial, as the right path to Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation.

(eurointegration, bak)