“The Eagles Cemetery in Lviv has long been a subject that arouses emotions in relations between Poland and Ukraine,” wrote Reinhard Veser in a comment published on Saturday on the portal of the daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ).
The author describes the Polish-Ukrainian conflict at the end of the First World War and the struggle for Lviv in the fall of 1918, as well as the circumstances of the creation of the “pompous” cemetery of the Eaglets, which has become a symbol of history. . burdens that weigh on the present. It also evokes the national conflicts of the 1930s and the bloody events in Volhynia in 1943/1944.
At this cemetery, underlines “FAZ”, presidents Duda and Zelensky laid wreaths together on Wednesday evening. Both also visited the nearby cemetery of Ukrainian soldiers, then opponents of the Aiglons. Such “friendly gestures” strengthen Poles’ support for Ukrainians, “FAZ” reads.
Veser recalled that the Cimetière des Aiglons had also been the subject of dispute after the collapse of the USSR. It was not until May 2022 that the conflict was resolved. “The war has shown who is a friend and who is an enemy,” said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy.
Alleged annexation plans
The “FAZ” journalist recalls that the Polish anti-communist opposition was in favor of reconciliation with Ukraine, and that democratic Poland was the first country to recognize Ukraine’s independence in 1991.
“Russia has long been trying to use the old Polish-Ukrainian conflicts for propaganda purposes. Even before the February 24, 2022 attack, Russian state media speculated that Poland intended to annex western Ukraine,” Veser writes, adding that senior Russian politicians rank are currently making such claims. Sergei Naryshkin, the foreign intelligence chief, said in April that Washington and Warsaw were working on a plan to occupy historic Polish lands in Ukraine.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted a map on Telegram in July, where he marked parts of Ukraine that would in future belong to Poland, Romania and Hungary. Despite denials from Warsaw and Bucharest, Moscow continues to talk about it. Commenting on the Lviv meeting, Medvedev called the tanks Duda donated to Ukraine “trash”. According to him, the meeting was aimed at “preparing western Ukrainian territories for takeover by new (former) occupiers.
