On Monday, Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oksana Syroyid met with members of the delegation of the Polish-Ukrainian Friendship Group of the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland led by its Chairperson Michal Dworczyk.
At the meeting the sides discussed wide range of matters of bilateral cooperation at the level of parliamentary groups of friendship, deepening of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and Poland and practical implementation of all areas of bilateral cooperation.
At the meeting O.Syroyid said that it is hard to overestimate the efforts of the Polish Government and parliamentarians in supporting Ukraine.
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament reminded of the research, which was conducted and presented by Polish Sejm Member Malgorzata Gosiewska, concerning the crimes committed by terrorists in the East of Ukraine. "For me this report is an evidence of human heroism,” she said. “It is difficult to overestimate the information that was presented to the public." She also thanked the Polish side for support in the prolongation of sanctions against the Russian Federation. "The threats Ukraine is facing have a global dimension and require joint efforts and coordinated actions by the European Community in order to protect the security, European values ??and European future," she said.
In turn, Michal Dworczyk said that they have already agreed a prospect plan of cooperation between Ukraine and Poland in these matters. In particular, they prepare for holding the NATO Summit in Warsaw in June 2016 with the participation of Ukrainian colleagues, will broaden exchange of students, prepare the renaming of streets in honor of Ukrainian and Polish heroes, create a joint committee of the Parliaments on security issues, etc.
During the meeting, they also discussed the issue of release of Polish citizen Aleksander Orlow held in the Odesa remand prison, and the evaluation of events in Volyn in 1943.
Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament stressed that "today is such a historic moment, when we are in a natural interaction with the Republic of Poland." "The interaction is felt not only in the government and the parliament, it is also felt by ordinary people of Ukraine. This support was felt during the Revolution of Dignity, and now in the education sphere, when Ukrainian students study in Poland, and in the security sphere – when we hold joint Ukrainian-Polish training. This interaction is an evidence of naturalness of our ties," she said.
At the same time, O.Syroyid noted that there are some sensitive moments. "In particular, the problems related to the history, its interpretation, including the evaluation of events in Volyn in 1943,” she said. “The political interpretation of the history may limit opportunities for our cooperation, and we are glad that the Polish side has listened to our arguments and agreed to continue the discussion in order to find consensus decisions."
Concerning the problem connected with the case of Orlow, the Deputy Speaker said that in her view there is no desire of prosecutors and judiciary to complete it. This conclusion appeared after a group of People's Deputies had visited Odesa to clarify the circumstances of the polish citizen’s stay in the remand prison. "This warped judgment is obvious,” she said. “We have to resort to the demands as people can not be imprisoned without a court order. The person should have received legal sentence."
According to O.Syroyid, this is "a matter of the capacity of the State, a matter of the protection of human dignity." "So we have to demand completion of the trial and making a judgment," said Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
At the meeting the Ukrainian side was represented by MPs Borys Tarasiuk, Serhii Martyniak, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Volodymyr Viatrovych.