Sikorski and Sybiha agree: Ukraine has no objections to exhumations of Volhynia tragedy victims

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, for discussions. Kyiv assured that there were no obstacles to the exhumation of the victims of the Volhynia tragedy in Ukraine.

Sikorski said this during a press conference, according to RAR.

Sikorski and Sybiha talked about Ukraine's future in the EU and decided to adopt a declaration regarding the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy after the meeting.

"Ukraine confirms that there are no obstacles for Polish state institutions and private individuals to cooperate with relevant Ukrainian institutions to conduct search and exhumation work on the territory of Ukraine in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, and declares its readiness to consider applications on these issues positively," the Polish foreign minister noted.

In turn, Sybiha stated that both Kyiv and Warsaw are interested in resolving misunderstandings on historical issues.

"Every family has the right to honor the memory of their ancestors with dignity, and within the framework of a joint Ukrainian-Polish working group under the auspices of the ministries of culture of both countries, we are working on practical mechanisms for conducting search and exhumation work," he emphasized.

For reference:

According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINP), the socio-ethnic confrontation between Ukrainians and Poles during World War II and the first post-war years was fueled by the Nazi and communist totalitarian regimes to weaken the Polish and Ukrainian underground. At the same time, the growth of interethnic hostility was also facilitated by the continued discriminatory policy in the interwar Polish Republic, to which the Western Ukrainian lands belonged. In 1930, by order of Pilsudski, pacification began, which was accompanied by arrests, beatings, and murders of Ukrainians on ethnic grounds.

The Volhynia tragedy was the ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians and Poles that took place during the Nazi occupation in 1943–1944. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army opposed the Home Army in a partisan struggle that caused casualties among the civilian population, both Poles and Ukrainians. The names of about 30,000 Polish and about 10,000 Ukrainian victims have been identified.