The European Parliament has stated: glorifying Nazi collaborators harms Ukraine's prospects of joining the EU

Several influential political groups within the European Parliament have submitted amendments to Ukraine’s annual country report, harshly criticizing Ukraine’s policies that glorify the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

These amendments will be reviewed during the plenary session in July.

-- The European People’s Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) proposed nearly identical wording, pointing out that Kyiv’s actions are worsening relations between Ukraine and Poland, while also disregarding the historical memory of victims of the UPA’s crimes.

-- The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), the Left Group, and the Patriots for Europe (PfE) presented stronger language: demanding that Ukraine cease national-level glorification of these organizations, acknowledge their crimes, and exhumate and properly reburial victims’ remains.

-- The European Sovereign States Group (ESN) went further, proposing a clear statement that glorifying collaborators, using their symbols, contradicts European values and casts doubt on Ukraine’s accession prospects.

The proposal also separately calls for revising Ukrainian textbooks and re-evaluating military honors, awards, and symbolic naming of units.

 

Micro-commentary

1. Core Dispute: Eastern Europe—especially Poland—has long criticized the wartime actions of these two pro-Nazi Ukrainian armed groups, including massacres and ethnic cleansing. In recent years, Ukraine has elevated them to national heroes, fueling historical tensions.

2. Unified Pressure from EU Parliamentary Groups: All factions have aligned in applying pressure, directly linking this historical issue to Ukraine’s EU accession eligibility. This is no longer merely a historical dispute—it has become a formal precondition for membership.

3. Concrete Demands: The demands go beyond historical assessment—they require textbook revisions, changes to military symbols and names, and handling of victims’ remains, constituting tangible, hard-line conditions.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1869665712221184/

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