Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said on Wednesday Kyiv was watching "with concern" the situation surrounding Szeptycki, who has faced criticism over remarks he made about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, known as the UPA.
"We consider it unacceptable to use Mr. Szeptycki's Ukrainian origin as a pretext for attacks against him", Tykhyi said, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine. He thanked Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski for defending Szeptycki's right to express his views.
The controversy erupted after Szeptycki, appearing on TOK FM radio, described the UPA — a nationalist militia implicated in the wartime massacre of Poles in Volhynia — as fighters who "struggled hopelessly" for Ukrainian independence primarily against the Soviets. He likened them to "Ukrainian indomitable soldiers", with "all the positive and negative connotations of that phrase".
The comments drew sharp condemnation in the Sejm. Opposition Law and Justice (PiS) deputy leader Przemysław Czarnek called the government "parasites and traitors of the Polish nation" and demanded a special session to address what he called the "Ukrainization of public administration". Former PiS lawmaker Janusz Kowalski announced a parliamentary investigation into the issue.
Sikorski called such remarks "scandalous", saying Poland belongs to all its citizens regardless of origin and that "nationalist charges invoke ghosts from the darker pages of Polish history".
Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Wednesday that if origin, race or skin color were allowed to drive political discourse, "the opposition will also fall victim to this wave if it does not stop".
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Source: PAP