Karol Nawrocki criticised the Pantheon of Heroes and referred to Western Ukraine as ‘Eastern Lesser Poland’
This was reported by PAP.
Speaking in the Polish Sejm, Zbigniew Bogucki, Head of the Office of the President of Poland, stated that the creation of the Ukrainian National Pantheon was a misguided decision.
He emphasised that Ukraine has the sovereign right to pass its own laws; however, in his view, honouring Stepan Bandera and figures whom Poland associates with the Volhynia tragedy runs counter to European and transatlantic values.
In his speech, Bogucki also used the term ‘Eastern Lesser Poland’ to refer to the territory of present-day Western Ukraine and stated that Poland would not accept such an approach to historical memory.
Why the term ‘Eastern Lesser Poland’ is controversial
The term Małopolska Wschodnia (‘Eastern Lesser Poland’) was not used in reference to Galicia for most of its history. It came into widespread use after the First World War in the Second Polish Republic to denote the territories of the modern-day Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
Prior to this, even after Galicia was incorporated into the Polish Crown in the 14th century, the administrative unit was officially known as the Rus’ Voivodeship, with its centre in Lviv.
In Ukrainian historiography, the use of the term ‘Eastern Lesser Poland’ in reference to present-day Western Ukraine is regarded as politically sensitive, as it is associated with the policy of Polonisation during the interwar period.
What led up to the statement
Earlier, Karol Nawrocki’s office had already described the creation of the Pantheon as an ‘escalatory move’ by Ukraine. The Polish side also criticised the decision to award an honorary title to one of the Ukrainian military units in honour of the Heroes of the UPA.
At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities emphasise that the issue of historical memory is an internal matter for the state, and that the law on the National Pantheon concerns honouring those who fought for Ukraine’s independence and contributed to its development.
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