On 20 June, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha held a round table discussion with prominent Ukrainian historians and experts on Ukrainian-Polish relations.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Olexandr Mischenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine Andrii Nadzhos, and representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance also participated in the meeting.
Participants exchanged professional assessments of the prospects for the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations, paying particular attention to issues of national memory in Ukraine and Poland. The event was a logical continuation of Ukraine's consistent efforts to deepen a responsible and constructive historical dialogue with the Republic of Poland.
Andrii Sybiha noted the comprehensive support that Poland has provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression, noting that such assistance is a vivid testimony to the genuine solidarity and strategic partnership between the two Countries.
‘Our relations with neighbouring Poland are extremely significant, both in terms of common interests as well as current challenges and threats against the backdrop of ongoing Russian armed aggression,’ the Minister emphasised.
Participants of the round table supported the importance of resolving sensitive issues based on the objectivity of historical facts, mutual understanding and a respectful attitude towards the historical memory of the peoples of Ukraine and Poland. In this context, the positive dynamics of the work of the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Issues operating under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture, as well as the continuation of search and exhumation works on the territory of both Countries were highlighted.
Given the sensitivity of historical issues in Ukraine's relations with Poland, as well as the appearance of dangerous trends of the politization of historical issues, the Participants of the discussion considered it appropriate to propose to their Polish partners to resume the activities of the Ukrainian-Polish Forum of Historians and the Partnership Forum. These Forums could be an additional platforms for developing a constructive dialogue, transferring sensitive issues to the domain of expert discussions with Polish historian colleagues, establishing objectivity in assessments of shared history events, preventing of provocations, counteracting disinformation, and incitement of hostility between the Ukrainian and Polish nations.