He said that he signed the corresponding note in response to a request from the head of the Society for Polish-Ukrainian Reconciliation, Caroline Romanowska.
“I would like to emphasize once again: Ukraine and I personally are ready to further cooperate with Polish partners in the historical sphere and on issues of exhumations. We are open and honest. Only in this way can we achieve real understanding,” Bodnar noted.
The diplomat said that he hopes for the same openness “to real dialogue on complex issues of a common historical past” on the part of the partners.
Context
The Volyn tragedy (in Polish historiography – the Volyn massacre) is a series of mutual ethnic cleansings that were carried out in Volyn during the Second World War by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army on the one hand, the Home Army and other Polish formations on the other. The exact number of casualties on both sides is unknown. It is believed that 25–100 thousand Poles and from several thousand to 24 thousand Ukrainians became victims of the purges.
For many years, the issue of search and exhumation work has been a source of contention between Kyiv and Warsaw. IN 2017 Ukraine in response to destruction and damage to Ukrainian monuments on the territory of Poland introduced a moratorium for the exhumation of Polish burials on Ukrainian territory. During all these years, countries have tried to resolve the conflict. Poland stated that will raise the issue of exhumation within the framework of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
In 2024, Ukraine and Poland agreed to resume exhumation work.
