– We will be able to talk about a breakthrough only when Polish forensic doctors and anthropologists stand over the remains of the victims of the Volhynian crime, and Polish soldiers, shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainian soldiers, lay wreaths on the graves of those who will be exhumed – he said in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24 Professor Grzegorz Motyka, director of the Military Historical Office. He assessed that in recent years there had been one “reasonable attempt at a compromise” on this matter, concluded between Presidents Andrzej Duda and Volodymyr Zelensky in 2020, but “it was thrown into the trash” after the IPN's expert opinion and “the decision of the Podkarpackie voivode representing Morawiecki's government.” Only now is the current government “trying to do something”.
On Tuesday Ukraine confirmed that there are no obstacles to conducting search and exhumation work on its territory. The decision to lift the moratorium on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of the Volhynian crime, in force since 2017, was announced during a joint press conference of the ministers of foreign affairs of Poland and Ukraine, Radosław Sikorski and Andrij Sybihy.
Professor Grzegorz Motyka, director of the Military Historical Office, said on Thursday in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24 that “we will be able to talk about a breakthrough only when Polish forensic doctors, Polish anthropologists stand over the remains of the victims of the Volhynian crime, and Polish soldiers – I trust – shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainian soldiers, as it happened in 2003 in Pavlivka, they will lay wreaths on the graves of those who will be exhumed. – Then we will be able to talk about something that actually happened – he added.
However, he said that Sikorski and the Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the head of the Ministry of National Defense, deputy prime minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamyszwho “firmly supported him”, are the first politicians since 2017 who “firmly said that they want to settle this matter”. He noted that “many have said so far, but they are the first to try to do something.”
On note that Karol Nawrockipresident Institute of National Remembrance and candidate PIS for president in next year's elections “says that he himself will now willingly go to Kiev to finalize the exhumation”, Professor Motyka replied that “in 2021, two-three months before the war (the full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022 – ed. ), he refused to meet with the president of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and talk about this matter, saying that he was an official of too low a rank to talk about exhumations.
– There was one good, reasonable attempt at a compromise during these years, concluded between presidents (Andrzej – ed.) Duda and (Volodymyr – ed.) Zelensky in 2020, and it was thrown into the trash as a result of one IPN expert opinion and the voivode's decision based on it Podkarpackie representing the government of Prime Minister (Mateusz – ed.) Morawiecki – he said.
He said that “from now on, this is the first real proposal.” – Because I do not count the commission appointed by Minister (Piotr – ed.) Gliński, which existed for a year and never met with Ukrainians – he added.
Main photo source: TVN24