Ukraine UPA symbols limit EU future, Polish president says

Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Wednesday that Ukraine's use of symbols linked to the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, "limits" Ukraine's future in the European Union.

Nawrocki spoke after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit in Ankara. He said Poland and Ukraine still both see Russia as the main threat, but that the two leaders had not resolved historical issues linked to wartime massacres.

Poland holds the UPA, a nationalist organisation founded in 1942, responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 Poles during World War II. The Polish parliament has recognised the massacres as genocide.

"Given that this issue is so important for Poles, we also count on understanding from Ukraine that the Banderite flag also limits Ukraine’s future in the EU," Nawrocki said, referring to Stepan Bandera, one of the UPA's leaders.

Zelensky later posted on X that he and Nawrocki had agreed to continue their dialogue.

Relations cooled at the end of May after Zelensky named a military unit after the UPA. Nawrocki responded by saying he was withdrawing Poland's highest national distinction from Zelensky. Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European government has called for de-escalation of the dispute.