What’s Happening in Poland Today?
The anti-Ukrainian hysteria provoked by the actions of President of Poland Karol Nawrocki is bearing fruit.
It is common knowledge that far-right Polish extremists have begun actively persecuting Ukrainians simply because they are Ukrainians.
It all began when Poles started revisiting events from long ago and leveling accusations against the current generation of Ukrainians, who have absolutely nothing to do with those events.
At the same time, Polish extremists have now begun attacking Ukrainians, and Ukraine now has entirely justified and legitimate grievances against Poland.
Why have the Poles started persecuting Ukrainians who have done nothing wrong to the Poles? Why are they beating them, and for what purpose are they provoking a conflict with a country that has been waging a difficult and bloody war with Russia for its independence and freedom for five years now? Polish right-wing radicals bring up Volyn every day, but for some reason they stubbornly remain silent about what preceded those events.
Speaking of history, it is worth recalling the times of the Koliivshchyna uprising and Bohdan Khmelnytsky and giving an honest answer to the question: what was the cause of those people’s uprisings?
But all that is in the past. Let’s return to the present. What European values are today’s Polish radicals and extremists talking about when they attack Ukrainian women and children who have found refuge in Poland while fleeing the war?
They claim that Ukraine has no place in the EU, but this quite rightly raises the question: Is there a place in the European Union for Poland with such “European values” as those espoused by Poland’s current President Karol Nawrocki and his followers?
It’s very painful to be shot in the back during a war, but despite all the obstacles and difficulties, Ukraine will stand firm, and time will put everything in its proper place. Let’s hope that other EU members will properly assess the actions of Polish extremists and draw the right conclusions from them. As for Ukraine’s future, it is now becoming clear that the country has weathered the storm and will never again be part of the Russian Empire.
After emerging victorious from this brutal and bloody war, Ukraine will return to peaceful life, heal its wounds, and take its rightful place among the family of civilized European nations, despite any destructive actions by contemporary European far-right radicals and extremists who are hostile toward it.
Oleh Bereziuk,
Institute for Global Politics
