Ukraine wants to offer Polish partners to transfer sensitive issues to plane of professional discussions between historians
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha and leading Ukrainian historians and international experts discussed the prospects for the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations and came to the conclusion that it is appropriate to transfer sensitive issues from the political plane to the plane of professional discussions with Polish colleagues-historians.
"On June 20, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha held a roundtable discussion with leading Ukrainian historians and experts on Ukrainian-Polish relations. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister Oleksandr Mischenko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Andriy Nadzhos, and representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Facebook on Friday.
It is reported that during the discussion, the participants of the event exchanged professional assessments of the prospects for the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations, paying special attention to the issues of national memory of Ukraine and Poland. The event became a logical continuation of Ukraine's consistent efforts aimed at deepening a responsible and constructive historical dialogue with the Republic of Poland.
Sybiha noted the comprehensive support that Poland has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of full-scale aggression by Russia, noting that such assistance is vivid evidence of true solidarity and strategic partnership between the two states.
"Our relations with neighboring Poland are extremely important both in terms of common interests and taking into account the current challenges and threats amid the ongoing Russian armed aggression," the minister emphasized.
At the same time, according to him, recently, attempts by some Polish politicians and political forces to unilaterally interpret and politicize the historical discourse in relations with Ukraine have become increasingly noticeable, which, in turn, affects the development of the partnership between Ukraine and Poland and actually serves the interests of the Russian aggressor.
The participants of the roundtable discussion supported the importance of resolving sensitive issues on the basis of the objectivity of historical facts, mutual understanding and respectful attitude to the historical memory of the peoples of Ukraine and Poland.
In this context, the parties noted the positive dynamics of the activities of the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture and the continuation of search and exhumation work on the territory of both countries.
"Given the sensitivity of historical issues in Ukraine's relations with Poland, as well as the emergence of dangerous trends of the transition of purely historical issues to the political plane, the participants in the discussion determined it appropriate to propose the Polish partners to resume the activities of the Ukrainian-Polish Forum of Historians and the Partnership Forum as platforms for the development of constructive dialogue, to transfer sensitive issues to the plane of professional discussions with Polish colleagues-historians, to establish objectivity in assessing events of common history, to search for ways to prevent provocations, as well as to counter disinformation and public incitement of hostility between the Ukrainian and Polish peoples," the MFA statement notes.