He was referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky's decision in May to name a Ukrainian military unit after the "Heroes of the UPA" (the Ukrainian Insurgent Army) – a wartime nationalist organisation responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of Polish civilians during World War II.
Speaking in Lublin, eastern Poland, on Saturday, Czarnek said Warsaw had a "moral duty" to press European and world capitals to stop what he described as the resurgence of "Nazi ideology" in Ukraine — language that closely echoes justifications Russia has used for its invasion, and which the international community regards as disinformation.
Comparing Zelensky's move to naming a German military unit after Adolf Hitler, Czarnek argued that WWII-era Ukrainian nationalists had pursued the same goal as German Nazism: ethnic cleansing in pursuit of racial purity.
He also criticised the EU and Polish authorities for failing to respond adequately to what he called Zelensky's "shameless" conduct, and questioned why Ukraine was being permitted to glorify Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist leader and controversial WWII-era figure, and the ideology associated with him.
The remarks came as Poland observed its National Day of Remembrance for the victims of World War II massacres committed by Ukrainian nationalists, marking the 1943 "Bloody Sunday" killings.
Zelensky, in a statement posted on X, called for "the full truth and a Christian commemoration of the victims," while stressing that Ukraine and Poland today face a shared threat from Russia and should not let the past undermine their common future.
"Ukraine is doing its part to honestly establish the facts regarding those killed in those years: where there were villages and where there were deaths, search operations are being conducted," he wrote.
The Ukrainian president noted that exhumations were due to begin shortly at the former villages of Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka.
Zelensky's decision to name a military unit after the UPA drew widespread condemnation across Poland's political spectrum, including from both government and opposition officials.
President Karol Nawrocki decided to strip Zelensky of Poland's Order of the White Eagle, the highest state honour, in response.
(ał)
Source: PAP, wp.pl
Click on the audio player above for a report by Piotr Urbaniak.