Events

4 Jun 2026

Belarus puts glorification of Nazism abettors in Ukraine up for discussion in OSCE

An archive photo

MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) – Ukrainian authorities pour the oil of political PR on the fire of enmity and hatred at the very time when steps toward reconciliation and easing tensions are so necessary. Permanent Representative of Belarus to the OSCE Andrei Dapkiunas made the statement during his speech at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, BelTA has learned.

The Belarusian delegation put the item “On the state glorification of nationalists who collaborated with the Nazis and were involved in mass murders in Ukraine” on the agenda of the OSCE Permanent Council. Andrei Dapkiunas emphasized that the glorification of Nazism is not a matter of history.

“This conversation is about the true driving motives of the people responsible today for making decisions that affect the destinies of war and peace on the European continent. This conversation is also our appeal to those who view what is happening in Ukraine as a universal battle of good and evil, see only enemies in Russia and Belarus, and consider the Ukrainian ruling elite to be the embodiment of good and light,” the diplomat noted.

He recalled that at the last session of the OSCE Permanent Council the Russian delegation drew attention to the ostentatious state reburial of the long-time leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) Andrei Melnyk with the participation of Ukraine’s top leadership and to the ongoing glorification of figures of the Ukrainian nationalist movement. Later on the public learned about Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

“Unfortunately, since then we have not heard from Ukraine’s Western partners any clear reaction to Kiev’s glorification of Nazi accomplices. There was neither condemnation nor attempts to distance themselves from the actions of the Ukrainian authorities. Western countries have long been applying double standards toward official Kiev, turning a blind eye to steps that in any other situation would have caused an immediate and harsh reaction,” Andrei Dapkiunas stated.

Meanwhile, in his words, it is not just about another episode of the so-called memory politics, but about a deliberate state immortalization of persons and organizations associated with one of the most tragic pages of European history.

“At a time when the international community is searching for ways to stop the bloodshed and restore peace, official Kiev deliberately makes decisions that further divide society, provoke new conflicts, and insult the memory of millions of victims of World War Two,” Belarus’ permanent representative said.

The history of the OUN and the UPA created by it is well known: these structures collaborated with Nazi Germany, participated in ethnic cleansing and mass violence against the civilian population. Tens of thousands of people became victims of their actions. A special place among these crimes is occupied by the Volhynia massacre of 1943-1944, during which tens of thousands of Polish citizens were brutally eliminated. Among the victims were also Jews, Russians, Belarusians, representatives of other nationalities as well as the Ukrainians who did not share the radical ideology of the nationalists.

“What words can describe an authority that honors as its heroes the killers of innocent civilian population, women, the elderly, and children? The glorification of such figures is an insult not only to Belarus and Russia. Public demands have been made in Poland for Vladimir Zelensky to apologize for the ongoing glorification of the OUN and the UPA. Leading Polish politicians, public figures, and historians openly state that it is impossible to build good-neighborly relations on the basis of hushing up crimes against the Polish people,” the diplomat remarked.

However, in other Western states this topic is ignored or deliberately hushed up. “One gets the impression that statesmen of the EU and NATO countries are ready to turn a blind eye to any actions of the Ukrainian authorities if they fit into the current political situation in order to continue the destruction of the Ukrainian state by shipping weapons and injecting money, thus prolonging the senseless bloodshed despite everything,” Andrei Dapkiunas emphasized. “The memory of the victims of Nazism should not depend on the latest trends and considerations of political expediency. The fight against the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and their accomplices must remain a common moral duty of all OSCE participating states without exception.”

The permanent representative of Belarus is convinced that it is impossible to talk about European values and at the same time hush up the state glorification of people and organizations that collaborated with the Nazis and stained themselves with crimes against humanity.

“In connection with the provocative actions of the Ukrainian authorities a simple question also arises: why do this right now? Ukrainian authorities pour the oil of political PR on the fire of enmity and hatred at the very time when the world badly needs steps toward reconciliation and easing tensions. We have already become accustomed to attempts by the Kiev authorities to provoke Russia and Belarus into retaliatory actions with far-fetched statements and outright lies. But why try to turn your allies against you contrary to logic and common sense?” the Belarusian diplomat wondered.

In his words, the only thing that comes to mind in this connection is that these are the actions of people whose main guiding principle is not the safety and well-being of the people, but the implementation of their own ideas for the reorganization of society’s life.

“In human history ‘social engineering’ has never ended well when it is not the basic needs and rights of people that are put at the forefront, but the political whim of a leader accidentally brought to the political Olympus, a messianic complex of the nation’s savior encouraged by Western admirers, and a hypertrophied idea of one’s place in history. We cannot get rid of the feeling that the famous expression ‘after me the deluge’ largely describes what befell the long-suffering people of Ukraine, who are fraternal to Belarus,” Andrei Dapkiunas said. “Just how well-founded our suspicions are about bias and political ‘double-entry bookkeeping’ in the OSCE on the painful topic we’ve raised will become clear from who considers it necessary to take the floor today in order to talk about this issue, and who considers it best to remain silent.”



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