Polish opposition leader: Ukraine's EU bid conditional on 'de-glorifying' Bandera

WARSAW, July 5. /TASS/. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the Polish opposition Law and Justice Party, said that Ukraine should not be accepted into the European Union if it continues to glorify Stepan Bandera and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), according to the Polsat News channel.

"The Law and Justice Party declares to the Polish people: Ukraine, with its cult of Bandera and other criminals, its glorification of the UPA and OUN, will not join the European Union! If we win the election, of course, we will not allow this," the politician said in a written address to his party members.

Kaczynski called for a boycott of the actions of Donald Tusk's government aimed at Ukraine's accession to the EU on "privileged terms." According to the party leader, if Kiev is accepted, the European Union will be "destabilized and disintegrate." The former Polish prime minister believes that Ukraine is unable to maintain an army without external support.

Ukraine has been a candidate for EU membership since the summer of 2022. The issue of further enlargement of the European Union is currently being considered with caution, as member states fear a split in voting on major political issues, which requires unanimity. This applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other candidates for EU membership.

A new round of escalation between Warsaw and Kiev came after Vladimir Zelensky named one of the units of the Ukrainian army "heroes of the UPA" on May 26. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the republic's highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle.