The biggest threat now is Russian disinformation. It is aimed at undermining trust and discord between Ukrainians and Poles
Olena Kondratyuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation, said this during the discussion “Integration of Ukraine into the EU. The role and place of Ukrainian-Polish relations in this process” within the Via Carpatia 2025 Forum.
She recalled Poland’s position during the full-scale invasion and thanked on behalf of the Ukrainian parliament and people. “The total aid amounts to 5 billion euros, of which 3.5 billion is military aid. These are colossal resources that allowed Ukraine to stand up and hold the front in the most difficult moments. In addition, Poland has become a real military hub, in fact the gate through which international aid arrives, and this is critically important for our defense,” she said.
Olena Kondratiuk also cited data from sociological studies on the attitude of Poles to Ukraine’s accession to the EU: 70% of Poles support the expansion of the European Union, more than 52% support the accession of Ukraine and Moldova. “The key thing is to preserve and strengthen the positive dynamics. Polish society sees in the expansion of the EU not only a valuable, but also a security and economic dimension,” the speaker noted.
Among the greatest threat to relations between the states, she named Russian disinformation aimed at undermining trust and discord between Ukrainians and Poles: at the beginning of November, there was an important statement by the Polish General Staff, which clearly indicated that the Russian Federation will use disinformation to the maximum, including against Ukrainians, to undermine security in Poland.
“We must monitor these processes very carefully, because anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Poland also mean anti-European sentiments, which contradicts the interests of both states,” Kondratiuk commented.
“Today, it is extremely important to maintain and strengthen contacts at all levels – between parliaments, governments, institutions. The Ukrainian-Polish Assembly, groups of interparliamentary friendship and joint meetings allow us to have a clear plan of action and talk even about difficult issues, in particular about historical memory. Thanks to our resolution, this dialogue has been restored: a working group has been created, exhumation and search work has begun, and this is an extremely important process of reconciliation and mutual respect. We must do everything so that historical topics do not divide our peoples and do not become a tool of political manipulation,” the vice-speaker summed up.
The eighth Via Carpatia Forum took place on November 28 in Lviv.
The Via Carpatia Forum was launched in 2018. It was held every year in Verkhovyna, Kryvorivna, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk or Kyiv. The initiator and founder is People’s Deputy Mykola Kniazhytskyi.
Organizers of Via Carpatia 2025 – Public organization “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum”, Ukrainian Catholic University.
