Poland's envoy to Ukraine criticized over mention of Ukrainian victims of Volyn tragedy
During events commemorating victims of the Volyn tragedy in the Ukrainian town of Olyka, Piotr Łukasiewicz, Poland's chargé d'affaires in Ukraine, delivered a speech that also referenced Ukrainian victims — a remark that drew criticism from some Polish politicians, TVN24 reported.
"As I bow my head before the Polish victims of Ukrainian violence in Volyn, I cannot fail to mention the Ukrainian victims of violence by the Polish state in the territories of the former Second Polish Republic, both before and during the war," Łukasiewicz said.
He added that "everything that happened during World War II was terrible and unnecessary," while stressing that he was not "creating symmetry or equating the scale and scope of suffering," nor "elevating the perpetrators of that violence."
The remarks drew criticism from several Polish politicians. Former Polish Ambassador to Kyiv Jan Piekło called Łukasiewicz's statement unacceptable in comments to Wirtualna Polska, saying it harmed Polish national interests and Polish-Ukrainian relations.
Marek Magierowski, a former Polish ambassador to the United States and Israel, also criticized the remarks, saying the current envoy's statement reflected "incompetence and a lack of diplomatic tact."
Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president's International Policy Bureau, called the controversy surrounding Łukasiewicz a sign of "many problems with the current corps of 'heads of diplomatic missions'" that Poland's Foreign Ministry leadership has sent to represent the country abroad.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski defended the envoy, saying he had "spoken in a Christian spirit" and that "certain nationalist zealots are pitting fraternal nations against one another in service of entirely different interests."
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