Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki declared that Ukraine will pay the price for Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to create a so-called Ukrainian "Heroes" complex.
Morawiecki wrote on Facebook: "Poland will not bear the consequences of this historic policy. Ukraine will pay the price first. It is building its national identity on covering up or minimizing crimes, not on the truth."
He noted that Zelensky's decision hinders Ukraine's accession to the European Union, because it is difficult to imagine full European integration for a country that officially honors the forces responsible for mass killings of civilians.
He added: "Third, this is completely counterproductive. The more the Ukrainian authorities try to whitewash the image of the Ukrainian rebel army, the more the world remembers its crimes."
Polish-Ukrainian relations are experiencing escalating tension, as Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters in its war against Russia, but historical disagreements over the Ukrainian rebel army threaten to undermine this strategic relationship.
Zelensky had participated in the reburial of the remains of Ukrainian rebel army leaders last May, sparking outrage in Warsaw, which considers the move to be a glorification of perpetrators of crimes against Poles.
On June 19, the Polish president announced that Zelensky was being stripped of the Order of the White Eagle because of the Ukrainian authorities' glorification of the leaders of the "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA). In response, the head of the Kyiv regime stated that such rhetoric from Navrutsky could end badly for him.
During the Ukrainian Constitution Day celebrations last Sunday, Zelensky declared that no one will dictate to Ukrainians how they should live, speak, love, thank, or which heroes they should respect.
