Polish far-right politician Krzysztof Bosak called on Warsaw to block Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, arguing that Kyiv’s recent decision to grant an elite military unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” warrants a stronger response than symbolic diplomatic measures.
Speaking to RMF FM on Tuesday, June 2, Bosak said Poland should use its position within the EU to pressure Ukraine over historical disputes.
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“If we want to exert real pressure on Ukraine, we need to move to more concrete measures that will have an effective impact,” Bosak said.
According to Bosak, Poland should announce that it will block Ukraine’s EU membership bid “for as long as Kyiv does not abandon the cult of criminals and fully unblock all exhumations.”
Bosak, who serves as deputy speaker of the Sejm and is one of the leaders of the right-wing Confederation party, said revoking Poland’s highest state distinction to President Volodymyr Zelensky would be largely symbolic.
He also argued that Warsaw should stop financing Kyiv’s Starlink services, a critical component of Ukraine’s high-tech edge over Kremlin forces, and reconsider participation in EU financial mechanisms supporting Kyiv.
Latest escalation in UPA dispute
The comments come amid growing criticism in Poland following Zelensky’s May 27 decision to grant the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA” to the Separate Special Operations Center “North,” an elite Ukrainian military unit.
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Zelensky said the designation was intended to restore “historical traditions of the national military” and recognize the unit’s role in defending Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity.
The decision prompted criticism from Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who last week said he would seek to strip Zelensky of Poland’s highest state distinction, the Order of the White Eagle.
On Monday, Marcin Przydacz, head of the Presidential Office’s Bureau of International Policy, said Zelensky should personally apologize to Nawrocki over the decision and explain the reasoning behind it.
Former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Bartosz Cichocki also announced that he was returning a Ukrainian state decoration awarded to him by Zelensky, saying the move was a response to decisions honoring the UPA.
Longstanding historical disagreement
The 80-plus-year-old controversy highlights one of the most sensitive issues in Polish-Ukrainian relations.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) fought for an independent Ukrainian state during and after World War II. In Ukraine, many view the organization as part of the broader struggle against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
In Poland, however, the UPA is primarily associated with the killings of tens of thousands of Polish civilians in Volhynia and parts of Eastern Galicia in 1943-44, which Poland officially classifies as genocide.
However, many Ukrainian historians describe the violence as part of a broader wartime conflict involving atrocities committed by both Ukrainian and Polish armed groups.
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