The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, reiterated this Friday that Poland assumes "its own great responsibility" in the protection of the eastern border of both the European Union and NATO. For this reason, he has demanded "special treatment" from his European partners, at a time when the main attention is directed towards Ukraine.
"Poland has its own great responsibility to defend the eastern border of the European Union. Ukraine is fighting, but Poland bears the brunt of the burden and needs special treatment," Tusk stressed in a press conference in Warsaw, maintaining an increasingly cold discourse towards the neighboring country.
Even so, Tusk has made it clear that Warsaw will continue to support Kyiv in the war against Russia. However, ahead of the next NATO summit to be held next week in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, he has warned that Poland must act prudently before committing new aid that could jeopardize its own strategic interests.
These words come as the Atlantic Alliance works on a draft declaration for that meeting in Turkey, which contemplates the granting of another 70 billion euros in military support to Ukraine for this year and the next, according to the Bloomberg agency.
Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv are going through a delicate moment, after old historical disputes have resurfaced. The tension was reactivated when the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, agreed to designate an Army militia with the title of 'Heroes of the UPA'.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), of an ultranationalist nature, is pointed out in Poland for its involvement in massacres perpetrated in territories under German occupation during World War II. This gesture caused a diplomatic clash that led the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, to withdraw the Order of the White Eagle, the highest state distinction, from Zelensky.
"No one will ever tell us which heroes to respect," Zelensky defended this week when presenting to Parliament a project to create a national pantheon in which to honor and house the remains of prominent figures in Ukrainian history, including UPA fighters.
With the objective of reducing tension, this Friday the foreign ministers of both countries, Radoslaw Sikorski and Andri Sibiga, met in Warsaw. On the eve of the meeting, Zelensky softened his speech and recalled that "Poland and Ukraine are "united by history" and that differences have always existed between both nations.