Ukraine’s plans to perpetuate the organizers of the UPA and OUN can exacerbate the lines of tension – Dapkiunas

Ukraine’s plans to perpetuate in the pantheon the memory of the organizers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists may exacerbate the lines of tension. This was stated by the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE and international organizations in Vienna Andrey Dapkiunas in his speech at the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, the Foreign Ministry reported.

A month ago, Ukraine signed a law on the creation of the Ukrainian national pantheon. The memorial complex will become a place of reburial of outstanding figures of Ukraine and a center for preserving historical memory and patriotic education, as well as a place for state ceremonies. Andrey Dapkiunas continued:

- There is information about plans to perpetuate in the pantheon the memory of the organizers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The final decision on this will be made by a specially created commission with the involvement of scientists. The Belarusian delegation has repeatedly drawn the attention of the OSCE participating States to the glorification of war criminals and Nazi accomplices by the Ukrainian state authorities. I do not rule out that our speeches on this topic have already become tired. And judging by the fact that only the Russian delegation responded to them, many delegations in this hall developed a clear allergy to the topic of historical memory, neo-Nazism and the glorification of Nazi accomplices: all “serious diplomats” speak to the rash of the day, and the Belarusian delegation again about some history.

The Belarusian delegation will continue to talk about history, he stressed:

- We will do so out of a desire to help all of us better understand how, over the past three decades, OSCE countries have managed to move from hope for peace based on respect and cooperation to fear of a major war. We will continue to say that one of the important reasons for the tragedy of modern Ukraine was the decision of the authorities of the country after 2014 to rigidly reformat the state identity of Ukraine in spite of its multi-ethnic and multi-confessional nature, basing this identity on the idea of national exceptionalism, glorification of Western Ukrainian nationalism and anti-Russian rhetoric. No self-respecting country in the world will be able to look at such an anti-government project on its border. When such an anti-project targets the great powers involved in global geopolitical rivalries, it becomes like playing with matches near a barrel of gasoline.

Speaking about why the representative of Belarus takes the floor every time it comes to honoring Nazi collaborators, why Belarus speaks about it when others are silent, the Permanent Representative of Belarus noted:

- Because Belarus hurts. Because the bells of Khatyn beat in the heart of every Belarusian. Just as the unhealing pain of Volhynia lives in the memory of the Poles, as the sorrow of Babi Yar rings trouble in the hearts of Ukrainians and as the ashes of Klaas constantly pound in the chest of each of us. Khatyn is a village that no longer exists, near Minsk. Its 149 inhabitants, including 75 children, were burned alive or shot in 1943 on suspicion of aiding partisans. The punitive operation was then carried out by the 118th battalion of the Schutzmanshaft and the special battalion of the SS "Dirlewanger". The shutsmanshaft battalion was formed in Kiev on the basis of the Nazi-disbanded Bukovinsky Kureni, a paramilitary formation of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, as well as prisoners of war of the Red Army and local volunteers.

Andrey Dapkiunas continued:

- The decision to create a memorial to national memory, which in another situation is natural and noble, in the current conditions in Ukraine, with the careless choice of the authorities through the veneration of the masterminds and perpetrators of violence, can expose the lines of tension that to no small extent caused the bloody war. In response to voices of dissent, Ukraine said that Ukrainians will decide for themselves who their heroes are, and that no one will tell Ukraine which heroes to honor. These are the right words, but only when the heroes are chosen by the people of many millions and not by a small group of people who have only the temporary right to speak on their behalf. These are the right words, but only when the maker is fully aware of the possible consequences of his choice. It is very important to choose your heroes carefully and responsibly. A rash choice may not become the desired wreath of good memory, but turn into a boomerang of revenge.

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