The Polish–Ukrainian dispute that exploded in mid-September has gone international after Canada honored a Ukrainian Nazi in parliament last week whose division genocided Poles. Polish Ambassador Witold Dzielski took the lead in demanding an apology, but all that he received at first was Speaker Anthony Rota apologizing to Jews, not Poles. That prompted Dzielski to complain about his people being left out, which he said was “deeply hurtful” after six million of them were murdered in World War II.
That wasn’t the last of Warsaw’s responses, however, since it coincided with Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk calling for Rota’s resignation and Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek revealing that he took steps over the weekend to seek that Ukrainian Nazi’s extradition. Although President Andrzej Duda has tried to downplay tensions with Ukraine after last week’s fast-moving sequence of events, there’s no denying that this latest scandal is connected to their increasingly multisided dispute.
After all, the Ukrainian Nazi in question was described by Rota as a “hero” who “fought for independence” and was riotously applauded by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his guest Zelensky, and all the other people of that chamber. No matter how much the Canadians try to play dumb by claiming that they weren’t aware of his history, the Ukrainian leader knew very well that the only so-called ‘freedom fighters’ in Ukraine during World War II were Nazi collaborators.
He was so caught up in the moment that he even clenched his fist in the air out of pride upon hearing that one of his fascist movement’s forefathers had come to watch him address parliament. This wasn’t lost on Poles, who were disgusted with Zelensky cheering the same man whose division genocided their ancestors. Many already despised his regime’s glorification of these war criminals but turned a blind eye to it up until now out of “political convenience” due to Kiev fighting NATO’s proxy war on Russia.
Polish resentment towards Ukraine’s pro-fascist historical revisionism had therefore already been boiling prior to Zelensky honoring this Nazi, but that appears to have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Although the authorities aren’t openly condemning him in order to keep bilateral tensions somewhat under control, at least for the time being, their extraordinarily strong response to this scandal can still be interpreted as partially directed against him.
Poles would have still been upset if Zelensky only lightly applauded after being compelled to react to the Speaker’s supposedly unexpected move to celebrate that Ukrainian Nazi, but what really bothered them was how enthusiastically he cheered him all while certainly knowing his history. By drawing attention to the crimes that this Nazi’s division committed against Poles like Dzielski did and pushing for his extradition like Czarnek is attempting, Poland is showing that it wants the whole world to know the dark truth about Ukraine’s “heroes”.
Observers also shouldn’t forget that the next national elections are on 15 October, which might also have played a role in why the ruling “Law & Justice” (PiS) party is finally sticking up for Poland’s interests abroad, be they in Ukraine or Germany after the latter’s leader just meddled in the upcoming vote. If there wasn’t a heated election right around the corner, then it’s unclear whether PiS would have spoken up or if they’d have remained silent in the face of all these recent provocations.
In any case, many Poles are pleased that their leadership is so fiercely reacting to Canada’s shameful celebration of that Nazi whose division genocided their ancestors, especially after Zelensky raised his fist in solidarity with that likely war criminal. They hope that he’ll soon be extradited after Rota just resigned and apologized for the pain that he caused to survivors of Nazi atrocities in Poland, though there’s no guarantee that’ll happen, nor that Zelensky will apologize for applauding that elderly fascist either.
Even so, this moment might still be an inflection point in hindsight when it comes to reshaping the Western masses’ perceptions about the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine. Up until this scandal, it was “politically incorrect” to talk about the Ukrainian regime’s relationship with Nazism, which was dismissed as a so-called “pro-Russian conspiracy theory”. Now there’s no doubt about the veracity of these claims after what just happened and Poland’s extraordinarily strong response to it all.
None of the above is to suggest that the Western public as a whole will dump Kiev in favor of Russia, but just that many more will now be aware that their preferred side in this conflict isn’t as innocent as was previously thought. In tangible terms, this could contribute to worsening the fatigue that a lot of them are already feeling when it comes to the possibility of indefinitely funding this proxy war. As a result, they might be more amenable to some politicians’ pragmatic suggestions to scale back aid to Ukraine.
Regardless of what follows, Poland’s demand for justice after Canada just celebrated a Ukrainian Nazi whose division genocided Poles is turning into a soft power nightmare for Kiev. The whole world is now learning the dark truth about that country’s “heroes”, which makes it and Zelensky look terrible, especially after he so enthusiastically applauded him all while knowing the side that he fought with. The cat’s out of the bag and it’s no longer taboo to talk about modern-day Ukraine’s glorification of Nazism.