The controversy surrounding the remarks made by Piotr Łukasiewicz during the anniversary commemorations of the Volhynia Massacre in Ukraine continues to intensify. After his speech sparked widespread outrage, the diplomat found support not only from Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, but also from Andrzej Szeptycki, who has previously drawn criticism for his comments about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). This time, the deputy minister went beyond defending Łukasiewicz and also targeted President Karol Nawrocki, accusing him of “normalizing” the Second Polish Republic’s policy toward national minorities.
On Saturday, the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, commemorations honoring the victims of the Volhynia Massacre were held across both Poland and Ukraine. The ceremonies took place as part of the National Day of Remembrance of Poles – Victims of Genocide Committed by the OUN and UPA. President Karol Nawrocki delivered a speech in Radruż, in the Podkarpackie region.
“We must speak clearly: memory, history, and the truth about the Volhynia genocide shape the future. We stand for the past, but also for the future that is here with us – for our children,” President Nawrocki said.
Łukasiewicz’s Speech Sparks Outrage
Piotr Łukasiewicz, Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Ukraine, participated in commemorations held in the Ukrainian town of Olyka. However, several remarks in his speech provoked strong reactions from the public.
Among other things, Łukasiewicz said:
“As I bow my head in memory of the Polish victims of Ukrainian violence in Volhynia, I cannot fail to remember the Ukrainian victims of the Polish state before and during the war. I am not creating a false equivalence, but we remember what was shameful and unworthy.”
He also stated:
“We must be able to forgive, and we must be able to ask for forgiveness. We must understand that forgiveness and asking for it come only after we have recognized and felt shame for the mistakes of our cruel past.”
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly defended Łukasiewicz, further fueling the heated debate online.
Szeptycki Escalates the Dispute and Criticizes the President
Andrzej Szeptycki, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, also joined the online discussion, siding with the head of the Polish diplomatic mission.
As previously reported, during the debate over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to name one of Ukraine’s military units after the “heroes of the UPA,” Szeptycki said in an interview with TOK FM:
“The UPA fought for Ukraine’s independence within the framework of the Ukrainian national narrative, primarily against the Soviets. It was a hopeless struggle, and with all the positive and negative connotations of the term, they were in some ways Ukraine’s equivalent of the ‘cursed soldiers.’ (…) They fought for a long time under impossible circumstances, consistently, and they provide a natural historical reference point for Ukrainians who have been fighting Moscow since 2014.”
Szeptycki first reposted a message on X defending Łukasiewicz’s speech.
Later that morning, he published another post in which he criticized President Karol Nawrocki.
“On the anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday,’ President Karol Nawrocki stated that the Second Polish Republic was not a paradise for Ukrainians because ‘there were many tensions, normal for relations involving national minorities.’ According to the President, these problems existed, still exist, and will continue to exist,” Szeptycki wrote.
He continued:
“It is difficult to accept such normalization of the problems of the Second Polish Republic. One need only recall the Pacification of Eastern Galicia, the destruction of Orthodox churches in the Chełm region, segregated seating for Jewish students at universities, OUN terrorism, or Berlin’s instrumentalization of the German minority. This was not a ‘normal’ situation. Neither today nor in the future can Poland or its neighbors afford such a policy toward national minorities.”
Szeptycki’s post was answered by MP Marek Jakubiak, who wrote:
“Normal disputes concern education and the building of national identities. Your minority – despite your boycott – had representatives in the parliament of the Second Polish Republic. Do Poles have seats in your parliament? And do you consider murdering ministers of the Polish Republic or setting Poland on fire to be ‘normal disputes’?”