Putin: Ukrainian nationalists were trained in Poland

[pieter]

Putin: Ukrainian nationalists were trained in Poland

16.03.2015 10:12

President of Russia Vladimir Putin reiterated claims that Ukrainians were trained in Poland in a documentary aired on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.


A file picture dated 18 March 2014 of Russian President Vladimir Putin (2-R) with Crimean leaders signing the act of reunification Crimea with Russia. Photo: EPA/ALEXEY DRUZHINYN

Interviewed for the three-hour documentary 'Crimea: Path to the Motherland,' Putin reflected on the protests in Kiev that led to the overthrow of President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. “The trick of the situation was that outwardly the [Ukrainian] opposition was supported mostly by the Europeans,'' the Russian leader said. ''But we knew for sure that the real masterminds were our American friends,'' he continued. ''They helped train the nationalists, their armed groups, in Western Ukraine, in Poland and to some extent in Lithuania,'' he claimed. “They facilitated the armed coup.” Poland denied training Ukrainians after Putin first made the claim in March 2014.

Nuclear risk

Meanwhile, Putin said in the interview that he had been considering putting Russia's nuclear forces on standby, so as to ensure the annexation of Crimea. ''We were ready to do it,'' he said. Putin argued that ''this is our historical territory and Russian people live there, they were in danger, and we cannot abandon them." In February 2014, when uniformed soldiers were seen at large in Crimea, Putin denied they were Russian troops and suggested that the uniforms had been bought ''in a shop''. A disputed referendum was held on 16 March 2014, in which 95.7 percent of the population voted to join Russia.The Russian leader has not been seen in public since 5 March, prompting various rumours about his health. (nh)

[pieter]

Why Poland Supports Ukrainian Nationalism

Though Polish and Ukrainian nationalisms are sworn enemies Poland backs the latter to frustrate Russia

Source: (Konserwatyzm.pl) Wladyslaw Gulewicz


Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) speaks with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski during their meeting in Warsaw, Dec. 17, 2014

In spite of the existence of an official strategic alliance between Warsaw and the western Ukrainian nationalists, the latter are more and more often displaying anti-Polish sentiments. This is causing a certain logical contradiction: the more Poland is helping Ukrainian nationalists who have seized power in Kiev, the more unfriendly they are to Poland. Why?

The theoretical foundations of the Ukrainian nationalist ideology are constructed in such a way that it is wholly impossible to maintain peace with a country that had adopted it as its official ideology.


Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura and Polish Marshall Józef Piłsudski in Winnicy, during the Kiev Offensive, April1920


Józef Piłsudski and Symon Petliura Kiev, May 1920 and a portrait of the Ukrainian leader Symon Petliura.

Nearly all the classics of Ukrainian nationalism see the western border Ukraine along the river San (in other words, on the territory of today’s Poland), and even though Dmytro Dontsov’s works call for the establishment of a Polish-Ukrainian alliance, even that alliance was to be temporary.

As long as the nationalists were weak, Warsaw could have supported them, but only to the point that they would not fall, and not to the extent that they could stand on their own two feet. Warsaw’s own interest should mean keeping the Ukrainian nationalism under control and using it against Russia. Only when Ukrainian nationalism is made dependent on Poland it can bring Warsaw maximum strategic benefits.

Poland wasn’t always able to maintain this sort of balance. Whenever the scales tipped in favor of Ukrainian nationalism due to major historical shifts, Ukrainian nationalists would begin to kill Poles on a mass scale, as happened on the Volhyn in 1943.

After the break-up of USSR, when Ukraine needed Poland’s help, Ukrainian nationalists tried to show Poland its respect by donning the masks of worldly democrats in order to undergo the democratic “face control” when entering Europe.

Official Kiev tried to continue its own political life, but the old ideas, according to which Poland is counted among the historical enemies of Ukraine’s independence, continued to fester in the nationalist subconscious.

First of all, the notion as to where the eastern border of “united Ukraine” ought to be varies. Some said it should include the Kuban (Pavlo Shtepa), others saw it in the foothills of the Caucasus (Mykola Machnowski), others even extended Ukraine to the Caspian Sea (Stepan Rudnytsky). But nobody ever had any doubts where Ukraine’s western border ought to be: it was always the San river.

If these territories are not adjoined into Ukraine it will not be possible to build a “unified great power Ukraine”, and it is precisely Ukraine as a “great power” that is the main and ultimate objective of Ukrainian nationalists and nationalism.

Secondly, this nationalism has a retrospective character. It does not look to the future but the past. The nationalists are looking for Ukraine’s “golden era” in times long gone. The epoch of the growth and active development of Polish statehood is seen by Ukrainian nationalists as a period of collapse of Ukrainian statehood, whose beginnings they trace to the Duchy of Halych.

Therefore those historical events which move the Poles cause sadness among Ukrainians. There is a well-defined contradictory nature of historical perspectives of the two nations. Polish and Ukrainian nationalists seek good and bad memories in very different time periods. The only thing that unites them is Russia. It is the only common “evil.”

Thirdly, Ukraine is in a rivalry with Poland over its “civilizational mission” and regional leadership, which Poland does not want to relinquish since it has more historical rights to call itself the regional leader, with its inherent messianism (without judging whether that messianism is appropriate or not).

Ukrainian messianism, on the other hand, is entirely made up and speculative. Ukrainian nationalists had always dreamed of it but never created it. The biggest dreamer was the founder of OUN’s military doctrine, Mykhaylo Kolodzinski who wrote “We, when building the Ukrainian superpower, must push the border of Europe to the Altay and Dzhungaria. That is the space that Europe is lacking."

Ukraine’s calling must be connecting these regions with Europe in the political, economic, and cultural sense, so that the expression ‘where two worlds meet’ acquired a real meaning. Just as Julius Caesar opened whole of Europe to the Latin culture and civilization by capturing the Gaul, so our revolutionary armies must open the territories to the south and south-east of Ukraine to "the Western European civilization”—Mykhaylo Kolodzinskiy, “Ukrainian Military Doctrine".

There were times in Poland’s history when it was powerful and could implement its leadership abilities. Ukrainian nationalism never experienced anything similar. The Ukrainian nationalists’ desire to replace Poland as the regional leader is the equivalent of a child wishing to replace the adult.

Fourthly, ideological concepts formulated by past nationalist leaders are being re-introduced dogmatically, with no elasticity. Whatever Dontsov or Lypa wrote is sacred! One can make temporary, tactical changes, but they don’t change the fundamental nature of Ukrainian nationalism.

Its radicalism is no different from that of Islamic extremism. Both ideologies want to physically annihilate their opponents, to blindly follow the letter of own postulates, view both Russia and the West as enemies, though they are merely a toy in the hands of the latter.

All of this condemns Poland and Ukraine to a “rough friendship”. The Polish government, by supporting Ukrainian nationalism, is trying to walk on the edge of the razor without getting cut, in other words, to extract maximum benefits and incur no losses. Therefore Warsaw is eternally trying to balance its interests, and Polish diplomats are engaging in verbal acrobatics.


Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (R) walks as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia looks on in Kiev on May 16, 2014.

For example, when visiting Kiev, Polish officials are shouting “Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes!” together with contemporary OUN-UPA supporters, while back in Warsaw they promise that they will protect the memory of the Poles murdered on the Volhyn. OUN-UPA are called criminal organizations in Poland, but at the UN Poland votes against the resolution conemning the hero-worship of Nazism, including in Ukraine.


Poles murdered on the Volhyn by Ukrainian nationalist partisans of UPA

Poland mourns its victims of the Second World War, but at the same time the Baltic states, which see annual parades of old SS-men, are repeating that Poland is a faithful ally, and the pro-Nazi sympathies in Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn are not an obstacle.

The Novorossia conflict had split the Polish society. A large segment of the population is sympathetic to the insurgents, though the pro-Ukrainian position dominates in most media. One can see a certain ideological confusion in the Polish society due to the conflict between the desire to condemn banderites and the need to court them for political purposes, between political russophobia and the understanding that the Novorossia is an enemy of those who consider OUN-UPA crimes as acts of heroism in the service of Ukraine.

Hence the ambivalent attitudes toward Polish participation in the conflict. Donetsk and Lugansk authorities more than once noted the participation of Polish paramilitary organizations, whose members fight on the side of the UAF. Some politicians are even calling for Kiev to be provided with military equipment, and even want to send Polish soldiers to the front. The other side wants to avoid getting involved in the conflict in which the “russkies” and the “banderites” are killing each other.

This lack of stability is causing objections from Ukrainian nationalists, who are openly saying that West had betrayed Ukraine’s interests. No doubt their list of enemies will include Poland.

Translator's comment: The Polish foreign policy is not only unprincipled but also remarkably self-destructive, as it had managed to antagonize all sides of the conflict. Poland’s vocal support succeeded in antagonizing Novorossia and Russia, while the failure to provide concrete assistance makes the Ukrainian nationalists see red. Should the Kiev junta survive the war and prosper, Poland shall bitterly regret playing its two-faced game.

Gulewicz correctly refers to Ukrainian nationalism as being a “toy” in the hands of the West. However, when one looks at the history of the 20th century, it is clear that the one Western power that had the most use for Ukrainian nationalism was Germany. It is not by coincidence that even today many “Ukrainian” soldiers like to wear German camouflage, with German flags, or even go beyond that and simply wear the swastika or the wolfsangel.

You will not see them wearing the Polish flag, or the Soviet flag, or the French flag, or even the US flag. The affinity between German and Ukrainian nationalisms is unsurprising, considering that both have the same “historical mission” of expanding the boundaries of the “Western civilization” (which usually simply means Germany’s sphere of economic control) as far East as possible.

The 21st century is picking up right where the 20th left off. Let’s not forget that the proximate cause of the Maidan had nothing to do with the United States, which exploited the situation rather opportunistically.

It began with an effort to bring Ukraine into EU’s (and, therefore, Germany’s) sphere of economic influence through the so-called “association agreement.” If that agreement would not be signed by a democratically elected government of Ukraine, it would be signed by one brought into power by Ukrainian nationalists, while Germany “looked the other way”…

So it would be entirely to simplistic to blame the Ukraine civil war solely on the Obama administration (though it had played a very destructive role as well). Certain European powers, including Germany and Poland, had their hand in it too, not because "Washington made them do it," but because of their own long-standing political and economic interests.


Far right All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda" partyleader Oleh Tyahnybok visits Ukrainian volunteer battalion fighting pro-Russian separatists, 30 September 2014



www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20824693


By Wladyslaw Gulewicz

Translated from Polish by J.Hawk

[karl]

Pieter

Well, both presentations have put it on the line of reality. I think perhaps it is to which camp one may side with. Poland is playing with fire, with the possibility of being burnt, for this whole situation could back fire back into not only their {Poland}back yard, but into the front yard as well.

Militarly, it is much to soon for Poland to become reckless and over confident in the manner of believing the military of the West, the high speaking confidence provided by the leadership of NATO and The EU. Even with the Americans boastful talk, it takes time to assemble all that an expeditionary military force is composed of. Then to transport it into the field of combat. With this, most states in the West, have been down sizing their militaries in as well as our German one. What is shown as combat numbers in weapons, is not actually realistic. For much of that equipment is not serviceable for lack of spares, fuel and ammunition. It may/will be to late to be decisive.

What ever strike force that will attact Poland, will be of one in a swift nature. For the enemies of Poland know in advance the above as described, for it is a tactic as old as man: Always be close to your friends, but closer to your enimies. And, with Poland, trust your friends, but trust your self more.

In as much to the remark of German Sphere of Economic influence. Perhaps not so far off. For this situation is for all sides, dealing with customers of our products and services. meaning no disgrace to any, it matters little who wins, for in the end, reality will be the victor. For then the needs will be much more intense with which ever side is the victor. It will then be how much and what will be the terms through the IMF for loans to the Ukrainian government to pay by.

Poland in short past purchased a number of our tanks at a good price and received very good value. They do need extension maintenance and spares are readily available. If the machines are used up in how ever manner, they are easily replaced with what ever requirments of the user may be.

Karl

[pieter]

Dear Karl,

Today Poland is maybe the only European nation who invests in it's defense and thus armed forces. Most European countries, especially Germany and the Netherlands had huge cutbacks in their defense spending. Poland understand that it has to modernise, reform, keep in good shape it's armed forces. It is good that Poland's Defense ministry supports and guides regional and local para military militia (the shooting associations). I hope that a Polish National Guard will be formed out of that after the example of the United States. That Polish National Guard could be part of the reserve components of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Wojsko Polskie) as a reserve military force, composed of National Guard military members or units of each Polish Province.

I agree with you that Poland should never rely solely on NATO and maybe even possible Future EU defense forces. What I believe today however, that Russia will not try to occupy Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland in one Blitzkrieg or Total war by land, air and sea. The Russians know that in that case the combination of Polish Nationalist, Ukrainian nationalist and Baltic nationalist insurgency cooperation will be very annoying, damaging and suffocating to Russian occupying forces on the long term. If they are occupied, the Poles be as fanatic fighters, anti-Russian and ultra-nationalistic or super patriots like the Ukrainians. The Poles will not accept, nor like nor collaborate voluntarily with the Russian occupiers. Ofcourse there will be Polish collaborators or opportunists who will gain from cooperating with the Russians, but they will be seen as traitors by the majroity of the Poles. Let's prey and wish and work towards a situation that that never will be the case.

Long live a Free, Democratic, Sovereign, Independent Poland! I hope that Poland will find a perfect balance between a superb diplomacy, a strong modern defense (army, navy, air force and special forces), intelligence, financial-economical policies, cultural exchange and internal political stability. I hope that Poland has learned from certain weaknesses in the past. It knows that it needs a superstrong defense, a firm and coherent foreign policy, investment in alliances and agreements, good bilateral ties with it;s direct neighbors and a good economy. I think that the conditions are right for Poland today. It's position is much stronger than during the Interbellum years between the two world wars (1919-1939). No political chaos, no political extremism (far left and far right propaganda and violence, except some drunken Hooligans in November), a very good economy, a good education system, good health care, employment and a future for it's citizens who are Polish patriots.

Let's pray it stays that way. And frankly I am sorry for the Russian boys of the 'Red Army' which will have to invade Poland in the case of war. The German Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht were afraid of the Poles near Arnhem (Oosterbeek/Driel), because they were fanatical fighters, because their homeland Poland was occupied and hurt by these Germans. They didn't fear the Brits, they feared the Poles. That is what the Dutch owner of the Arnhem War Museum 40-45 told me. It will be the same in the 21th century. The grandparents and parents, aunts and unlcles, neighbors and older teachers will tell the present generation of teenagers and people in their twenties and early thirties, what they have experienced during the Peoples Republic, during the Stalinist era and during the Second World War. They will tell the new generations about the Sovjet occupation of Eastern-Poland in the period 1939-1941. They will tell them about the 'red terror' of the NKVD (KGB), the humiliation of the Polish population there by the Sovjets. The mass arrests, the torture, the executions, and the ethnic cleansing, the transport of hundreds of thousands of Poles to Siberia and Kazakhstan. And the killing of ten thousands of Polish officers in Katyn and other places.

Cheers,
Pieter

[JustJohn or JJ]

[Jaga]

Pieter,

these photos from Wolyn were hard to see. There seem to be more to the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. I am not surprised:

sputniknews.com/europe/20150423/1021261030.html




Poland Backs Away From Dialogue After Ukraine Glorifies Nazi Collaborators

© Sputnik/ Pavel Palamarchuk




Europe
10:20 23.04.2015(updated 11:34 23.04.2015) Get short URL

3522421

Poland's president ruled out any further “historic dialogue” with Ukraine following its glorification of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence.





Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA) at the monument to Stepan Bandera during the Heroes Festival in Lviv.

© Sputnik/ Pyotr Zadorozhnyi

Sweeping Dark Past Under Legal Rug: Ukraine Recognizes Ultranationalists as Freedom Fighters
Polish President Bronisław Komorowski has condemned the Ukrainian Rada's recent recognition of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence.

“There could be no reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine without a dialogue,” the president said in his interview with TVN24 news channel.

“We have a lot of work ahead in [setting] our relations with Ukraine,” he added.

President Komorowski noted that the misfortune of the recently adopted law is that it prevents any further historic dialogue between the two countries.



How To Spell ‘Hero’ in Ukraine: N, A, Z, I

© Sputnik/ Vitaly Podvitski

How To Spell ‘Hero’ in Ukraine: N, A, Z, I
The Polish leader, however, added that communication between the two countries is not halted and both sides should search for a positive solution to the existing tension in relations.

On April 9 Ukraine's parliament passed a “Law on the Status and Memory of the Participants in the Struggle for Independence in the 20th Century”, recognizing ultranationalist groups like the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) as freedom fighters.

The above term also includes anyone who fought for Ukraine's independence between November 1917 and August 24, 1991, as part of formal, informal, underground, military or guerilla groups.



Representatives of Poland's Democratic Left Alliance consider the Ukrainian Rada's recognition of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence a slap in the face to the people of Poland and to its president, Polish Press Agency reports.

© Sputnik/ Miroslav Luzetsky

Glorification of Ukrainian Nazi Collaborators is a Slap in Poland's Face
The move came several hours after Komorowski's visit to Ukraine and his call for reconciliation between the Polish and Ukrainian people, following their difficult and complex common history.

The president then expressed hope that old disputes and quarrels “will not get in the way in the path to good dialogue between the two countries and peoples.”
Over the past decade, Ukrainian-Polish relations have been strained by Ukrainian historians' growing attempts to rehabilitate the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Polish historians blame the killing of between 100,000 and 130,000 Polish civilians and 5,000-10,000 Ukrainian civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia on the UPA, claims which Ukrainian historians have downplayed or denied outright.


Read more: sputniknews.com/europe/20150423/1021261030.html#ixzz3YD5fTc1C

[Jaga]

Pieter,

these photos from Wolyn were hard to see. There seem to be more to the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. I am not surprised:

sputniknews.com/europe/20150423/1021261030.html
Poland Backs Away From Dialogue After Ukraine Glorifies Nazi Collaborators

© Sputnik/ Pavel Palamarchuk
Poland's president ruled out any further “historic dialogue” with Ukraine following its glorification of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence.

Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA) at the monument to Stepan Bandera during the Heroes Festival in Lviv.

© Sputnik/ Pyotr Zadorozhnyi

Sweeping Dark Past Under Legal Rug: Ukraine Recognizes Ultranationalists as Freedom Fighters
Polish President Bronisław Komorowski has condemned the Ukrainian Rada's recent recognition of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence.

“There could be no reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine without a dialogue,” the president said in his interview with TVN24 news channel.

“We have a lot of work ahead in [setting] our relations with Ukraine,” he added.

President Komorowski noted that the misfortune of the recently adopted law is that it prevents any further historic dialogue between the two countries.



How To Spell ‘Hero’ in Ukraine: N, A, Z, I

© Sputnik/ Vitaly Podvitski

How To Spell ‘Hero’ in Ukraine: N, A, Z, I
The Polish leader, however, added that communication between the two countries is not halted and both sides should search for a positive solution to the existing tension in relations.

On April 9 Ukraine's parliament passed a “Law on the Status and Memory of the Participants in the Struggle for Independence in the 20th Century”, recognizing ultranationalist groups like the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) as freedom fighters.

The above term also includes anyone who fought for Ukraine's independence between November 1917 and August 24, 1991, as part of formal, informal, underground, military or guerilla groups.



Representatives of Poland's Democratic Left Alliance consider the Ukrainian Rada's recognition of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) as fighters for independence a slap in the face to the people of Poland and to its president, Polish Press Agency reports.

© Sputnik/ Miroslav Luzetsky

Glorification of Ukrainian Nazi Collaborators is a Slap in Poland's Face
The move came several hours after Komorowski's visit to Ukraine and his call for reconciliation between the Polish and Ukrainian people, following their difficult and complex common history.

The president then expressed hope that old disputes and quarrels “will not get in the way in the path to good dialogue between the two countries and peoples.”
Over the past decade, Ukrainian-Polish relations have been strained by Ukrainian historians' growing attempts to rehabilitate the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Polish historians blame the killing of between 100,000 and 130,000 Polish civilians and 5,000-10,000 Ukrainian civilians in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia on the UPA, claims which Ukrainian historians have downplayed or denied outright.


Read more: sputniknews.com/europe/20150423/1021261030.html#ixzz3YD5fTc1C

[pieter]

Dear Jaga,

The Ukrainian-Polish relationship will stay a sensitive subject due to the painful mutual past. Ukrainians haven't been kind to Poles and Poles haven't been kind to Ukrainians. In the Ukraine there was and probably is some sort of resentment against the old occupiers, the Poles and the Russians. They hated the Polish nobility, the schlachtza in the past and their henchmen, the jewish administrators and collectors of the Polish nobility. Polish nationalism and Ukrainian nationalism formed an anti-thesis, they were opposing ideologies and parties in the first half of the 20th century. I was surprised about the Pro-Ukrainian attitudes of the Poles during the 2004 Orange revolution and the 2014 Maidan revolution. Since xenophobic, ultra-nationalist, neo-nazi, racist, fascist Ukrainian parties and movements were part of that. Anti-Polish or anti-Polonist people, Ukrainians from Lviv and other Ukrainized parts of former Easter-Poland and Western-Ukraine.


"Death to the Poles!" - The monument to the executed Polish professors vandalized in Lviv, western Ukraine, November 2011. All of western Ukraine belonged to Poland before WWII and these attacks have been simply described as nationalistic.

On October 13, 1990 Poland and Ukraine agreed to the "Declaration on the foundations and general directions in the development of Polish-Ukrainian relations". Article 3 of this declaration said that neither country has any territorial claims against the other, and will not bring any in the future. Both countries promised to respect the rights of national minorities on their territories and to improve the situation of minorities in their countries. This declaration re-affirmed the historic and ethnic ties between Poland and Ukraine, containing a reference to "the ethnic and cultural kinship of the Polish and Ukrainian peoples".
Support for Ukrainian sovereignty has become an important component of Polish foreign policy. Poland strongly supported the peaceful and democratic resolution of the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and has backed NATO-Ukraine cooperation (such as the Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade), as well as Ukraine's efforts to join the European Union.
Poland has been an avid supporter of Ukraine throughout the tumultuous period of the Euromaidan and the 2014 Crimean Crisis. The Polish government has campaigned for Ukraine in the European Union and is a massive supporter of harsh sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Poland has declared that they will never recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia. Poland also vehemently rejected alleged offers from Russia to partition Ukraine amongst the two states.

Poles in contemporary Ukraine

Under the "Declaration of rights of nationalities of Ukraine" (approved November 7, 1991) Poles, as minorities, were guaranteed political, economic, social, and cultural rights. The Polish minority in Ukraine were and have been active supporters of Ukrainian independence; they supported Viktor Yushchenko over Viktor Yanukovych virtually as a bloc in the disputed 2004 election.
The number of Poles in Ukraine declined after Ukraine's independence, with a total number of 144,130 counted in the census of 2001. The Poles form 0.3% of the Ukrainian population. Most Poles who remained in Ukraine were and are concentrated in Zhytomyr Oblast (about 49,000), Khmelnytskyi Oblast (about 20,000), and Lviv Oblast (about 19,000).

The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right

The Ultra-nationalist Ukrainian political party Svoboda states that Poland has played a negative historical role in Ukrainian lands. The party demands an oficial apology from Poland for five hundred years of Polonization, from the 15th to the20th centuries, and indemnities for “the Polish terror and occupation of Ukrainian lands in the 20th century”

Despite its anti-Polish and anti-Western ideology, Svoboda actively collaborates with Narodowego Odrodzenia Polski (NOP) and other European ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist movements (Pankowski, “Polsko-ukrain´skawspó. Svoboda is a member of the so-called Alliance of European National Movements, a network which includes the British National Party, Nationaldemokraterna of Sweden, the Front National in France, Fiamma Tricolore in Italy, the Belgian National Front, and the Hungarian Jobbik .This seemingly unlikely cooperation is partly facilitated by a joint fas-cination with ethnic purity, inspired by Alain de Benoit, the ideologue of the French Nouvelle Droite.

Poland evacuates over 180 ethnic Poles from Ukraine's embattled east

World January 12, 8:41 UTC+3


WARSAW, January 11. /TASS/. The Polish Foreign Ministry finishes the first stage of evacuation of ethnic Poles from Ukraine’s embattled Donbass, in which 162 people have already been moved to Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv and 20 more are due to arrive shortly.
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Conrad Pavlik, several people refused to be evacuated at the last moment. Others will be brought to Poland within the next few days, he said.
According to the Polish Foreign Ministry, about 4,000 ethnic Poles lived in eastern Ukraine before the start of a conflict. Most have left the region by now, and about 200 are staying in the zone of a military operation at the moment. They will be getting money from the Polish Foreign Ministry.
For those who have opted to leave for Poland, language and professional courses will be organized.

www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/07/polish-ukrainian-relations

[Jaga]

Pieter,

yes, there is lots of complexities in this relations. Some of the Poles were settled in Ukraine, Volynia, by Polish state and did not realize that they are pawns in the play of the powers. This sign on the monument is cruel.....
It looked as like suddenly Poland started loving Ukraine due to their anti-Soviet tendencies, but there is too much luggage to be carried with it and the hundreds of years of distrust cannot be forgotten.