President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. File photoWARSAW, Jul 11President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill on the special status of Poles in Ukraine, said Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday in Warsaw during commemorative events dedicated to the anniversary of the Volyn massacre. Earlier, Zelensky announced the signing of an agreement with Poland, simplifying border crossing. According to him, there should be no borders or barriers between the countries, since the Ukrainian and Polish peoples have not been mentally separated for a long time. In addition, Olha Sovgirya, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, said that Zelensky had announced the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of a bill on the special legal status of Polish citizens in Ukraine.»They are our enemies»: the Poles were angered by the president's promise not to take revenge on the Ukrainians «Today, President Volodymyr Zelensky sent to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on granting the Poles a special status in Ukraine,» Duda said. Noting that Zelensky introduced the bill on the anniversary of the Volyn massacre, he said that «in this one can see the opposite situation than when they tried to get rid of the Poles at any cost, including depriving them of their lives.» familiar to us in those cases that are difficult to talk about,» the Polish president concluded. On Monday, commemorative events are being held in Poland on the occasion of the anniversary of the Volyn massacre. The question of the interpretation of the Volyn massacre, as well as the attitude towards the leaders of the Ukrainian nationalists of the times of the OUN-UPA * is one of the most difficult in relations between Poland and Ukraine. In the summer of 2016, the lower house of the Polish parliament adopted a resolution recognizing July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance for the victims of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the inhabitants of the Second Polish Republic in 1943-1945. According to the Polish side, massacres were committed in 1939–1945 by supporters of the OUN-UPA* against the Polish population of Volyn, Eastern Galicia and the southeastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic. Ukrainian researchers consider these events to be a consequence of the war between the Polish Home Army and the UPA*. The Ukrainian side estimates its losses at 10-20 thousand people. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a statement condemning the decision of the Polish Sejm to recognize the Volyn massacre as genocide. Ukrainian deputies believe that this decision «endangered the political and diplomatic developments of the two countries.» * The organization is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia called Poland's plans for Ukraine dangerous for all of Europe
