Poland criticizes Budanov's statements about 'new escalation steps' as wrong
Polish National Security Bureau chief Bartosz Grodecki has dismissed Ukrainian presidential office head Kyrylo Budanov's claims about Poland's planned escalation steps, calling them irresponsible and mistaken.
Bartosz Grodecki, the head of Poland's National Security Bureau, has strongly rejected statements made by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, regarding alleged new escalation steps by Poland in bilateral relations. Grodecki described the remarks as "irresponsible" and "absolutely unnecessary."
According to Grodecki, Budanov's statements indicate a deep misunderstanding and an attempt to shift responsibility onto the Polish side. He emphasized that Poland does not consent to building relations on the basis of "Banderaism" — a reference to Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera. If Ukraine has no other heroes and wants to build its myth on that, it is making a strategic mistake, he added.
Earlier, Budanov had stated that a peak of escalation in Ukrainian-Polish relations was expected this week, linked to Poland's National Day of Remembrance for victims of the Volhynia tragedy, observed on July 11. He claimed that Poland was preparing "a series of immature escalation steps" ahead of that date.
It is worth noting that on July 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski in Warsaw and proposed a package of anti-crisis measures to defuse tensions between the two countries.
