WARSAW, July 5. Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of the Polish opposition party Law and Justice, stated that Ukraine should not be admitted to the European Union if it continues to celebrate Stepan Bandera and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), according to the Polsat News news channel.
“The Law and Justice party declares to the Polish people: Ukraine, with its cult of Bandera and other criminals, its celebration of the UPA and OUN, will not join the European Union! If we win the elections, of course, we will not allow it,” the politician said in a written statement to members of his party.
Kaczyński called for a boycott of events organized by the government of Donald Tusk, which aim to bring Ukraine into the EU under "privileged conditions." According to the party chairman, if Kyiv is accepted, the European Union will be "destabilized and disintegrated." The former Polish Prime Minister believes that Ukraine is not capable of maintaining its army without external support.
Ukraine has been a candidate for EU membership since the summer of 2022. The issue of further EU enlargement is currently being considered with caution, as member states fear divisions in voting on major political issues, which requires unanimity. This applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other candidate countries for EU membership.
A new round of escalation between Warsaw and Kyiv occurred after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 26 described one of the units of the Ukrainian army as a "hero of the UPA." In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki withdrew the highest state award of the republic, the Order of the White Eagle, from Zelenskyy.
TASS / gnews.cz
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