July 2016: President Petro Poroshenko kneels before the monument to the victims of the Volhynia tragedy. Source: President of Ukraine.In Poland and Ukraine, conflicting historical narratives have long been used and abused by political forces on both sides. While Ukraine’s Euromaidan brought some fresh air to the relations between the two countries, with Poland supporting Ukraine’s struggle on the diplomatic, political and people-to-people levels, contentious history is once again coming to the fore.
This time, mainstream narratives in both countries are increasingly being influenced by far right groups. Once allies aiming to form an international nationalist movement, far right groups on both sides have returned to historical misunderstandings. The increasing tensions may have a detrimental effect on the relations between the two societies. More importantly, however, they suggest how international nationalism could fail.
Mutual respect and animosity
On 4 March, the centre of the west Ukrainian city of Lviv was full of men in military outfits and dark blue jackets bearing yellow tridents. Hundreds of people carrying torches marched through the city’s streets amid flags with the emblems of the National Corps, Svoboda and Right Sector – Ukraine’s main far-right groups – as well as a large black and red flag of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
