{"id":1600,"date":"2026-06-30T15:10:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/06\/30\/poland-issues-eu-warning-to-ukraine-in-nazi-collaborator-row\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:10:52","slug":"poland-issues-eu-warning-to-ukraine-in-nazi-collaborator-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1600","title":{"rendered":"Poland issues EU warning to Ukraine in Nazi collaborator row"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiev won\u2019t join the bloc as long as it honors nationalists who massacred up to 100,000 ethnic Poles during World War II, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukraine will face significant problems joining the EU as long as it continues to honor Stepan Bandera, a World War II-era Nazi collaborator whose followers carried out the ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Poles, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Polsat News on Monday, Kosiniak-Kamysz blasted Ukraine over its glorification of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the group that Bandera led, and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).<\/p>\n

Both groups collaborated with Nazi Germany and massacred up to 100,000 ethnic Poles, mostly women, children, and the elderly, in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-1944.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Ukrainian
Zelensky to skip key \u2018Ukraine recovery\u2019 event over Nazi-collaborator scandal<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The defense minister warned that \u201cwith Bandera, Ukraine will not join the European Union,\u201d<\/em> adding that \u201cno one will tell us how to vote\u201d<\/em> on another country\u2019s accession. He argued that \u201cit is impossible in the EU to place on a pedestal those who destroy European cooperation,\u201d<\/em> and suggested that not all Ukrainian political factions actually want to join the EU.<\/p>\n

The comments come after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky named a special-forces unit after the UPA, triggering pushback from Poland, which has been an ardent supporter of Kiev in the conflict with Russia.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Poland presses Ukraine to drop street name honoring Nazi collaborator<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Polish President Karol Nawrocki called the decision \u201coutrageous\u201d<\/em> and stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland\u2019s highest honor. A number of senior Ukrainian officials responded by relinquishing their own Polish awards.<\/p>\n

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova weighed in on Kosiniak-Kamysz\u2019s comments and Poland\u2019s sudden pushback against the glorification of neo-Nazi collaborators in Ukraine, noting that Poland has been arming and funding Ukraine\u2019s \u201cneo-Nazi regime\u201d<\/em> for years.<\/p>\n

Zakharova said Poland is \u201cresponsible for those it has tamed,\u201d<\/em> adding that it essentially nurtured \u201cbloodthirsty monsters\u201d<\/em> who are now in power in Kiev.<\/p>\n

As tensions between the two countries flare, Kosiniak-Kamysz addressed a separate dispute, confirming that Poland will not transfer its remaining Soviet-era MiG-29 jets to Ukraine after it failed to honor a reciprocal pledge to share drone technology. \u201cI proposed a very partner-like approach: MiGs for drones, [but Ukraine] did not follow through.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

An IBRiS opinion poll published last week suggests that nearly 60% of Poles are opposed to Ukraine\u2019s accession to the EU, up from 42% last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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