(Dan Tri) – Polish President Andrzej Duda was criticized after he admitted he was not sure whether Ukraine could reclaim the Crimean peninsula from Russia.
Polish President Andrzej Duda (Photo: Reuters).
Reuters reported that the Polish President said he was not sure whether Ukraine could regain control of Russian-controlled Crimea but believed the country could regain Donetsk and Luhansk.
Warsaw has been one of the strongest supporters of Kiev since Russia launched a military campaign in the neighboring country from 2022. Polish officials have stated that Ukraine needs to regain control of all of its territory.
President Andrzej Duda reiterated this view in an interview on Kanal Zero channel late on February 2.
`I don’t know if (Ukraine) will get Crimea back, but I believe they will get Donetsk and Luhansk back,` he said.
He said the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, `is a special place… also for historical reasons. Because in fact, if we look historically, Russia has controlled
Crimea has belonged to Russia since 1783, until February 19, 1954 when it became a `gift` of Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic.
The decision to hand Crimea to Ukraine is still controversial about the real reason why Soviet leaders `cut` this territory to Ukraine and whether it was a legal decision or not.
On the other hand, Russia’s move to annex Crimea in 2014 was not recognized by Ukraine and the West because they believed that the referendum organized by Moscow was invalid.
Ukraine has repeatedly declared that it will regain every inch of land, including Crimea.
After Mr. Duda’s statement, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, said on February 3: `Crimea is Ukraine’s: It has been and will remain so. Reclaiming Crimea is the common task and obligation of
Mr. Duda’s comments were criticized by parliamentarians in the ruling coalition in Poland.
Roman Giertych, a lawmaker from the largest group in the ruling coalition, said: `I want to remind Mr. Duda that there are cities in our country that have historically belonged to Poland for a shorter period of time than to
Mr. Giertych said that Mr. Duda’s statement lacked insight.
Meanwhile, PiS MP Radoslaw Fogiel said such criticism of Mr. Duda’s statement was baseless.
