Zhirinovsky suggests that Poland should annex Western Ukraine
22:49
Vice Chairman of the Russian parliament, ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky has sent a formal letter to the Polish authorities suggesting that Poland should overtake territories in Western Ukraine. Similar letters were sent to Romanian and Hungarian authorities as well.
“[We suggested] they hold referendums in territories that neighbor Ukraine and in several regions that used to belong to the aforementioned countries, and think about taking over the territories,” Zhirinovski’s Liberal Democratic party confirmed in a statement sent to Russian news agency Interfax.
“Ukraine’s Chernivitsi region – forced to become a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940 – used to belong to Romania, the statement said. It added that the Transcarpathia region was “ethnically and historically related to Hungary,” and that geopolitical considerations resulted in the loss of five Polish territories during the Soviet period: Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Rivne, Zhirinovsky claimed.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it received the letter, calling it “ridiculous.”
“We’re not taking such proposals seriously,” said MFA spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski, adding that the ministry will only send a courtesy reply that it received such a letter without commenting on its content.
Presidential advisor Tomasz Nałęcz was less diplomatic. “It’s an outrage that someone can propose such actions to Poland. We, as a country, were often hurt by someone else changing our borders in the past, so asking us to participate in partitioning a country that we have friendly relations with is offensive,” he said, adding that such letter should be sent to a psychiatrist.
