To the Consul General of Poland in Lviv

To the Consul General of Poland in Lviv

Mr Wiesław Osuchowsky

Esteemed Mr Consul,

I have the great honour on behalf of all those who have received awards here to express to you, and through you, to the President of the Polish Republic Lech Kaczyńskii, our enormous gratitude for the great honour you have bestowed upon us. It gives us pleasure that our modest contribution towards Ukrainian – Polish understanding has received such a tribute from the Polish state. In accepting this award with true gratitude, we would assure you that the greatest award for us will be enduring good-neighbourly and partner relations between Ukraine and Poland. The development of these relations, as well as their first fruits, have been the most significant dominating factor of our geopolitical expanse over the last 15 years and promise to adorn all textbooks of our common European history.

Mr Consul, allow me here to develop a thought which I had the occasion to express on 1 November this year at a shared memorial ceremony at the Lychakivske Military Memorial. In the history of Ukrainian – Polish relations there have been various historical periods which were marked by different patriotic motives. There was a time when love for their homeland spurred outstanding figures of three peoples – Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians – to take great effort to build a common home at the time – Rzecz Pospolita. There was also a time when love for their Motherland demanded from our ancestors that they meet on the field of battle, and with the courage of heroes uphold the rightness of their state aspirations. Today this same love for our Motherland demands from us courage in overcoming the negative heritage of past centuries and a certain loftiness of spirit which can point the way to new perspectives in Ukrainian – Polish relations

There are at least two factors which can stand in the way of such perspectives. It is firstly very easy to confuse eras, and carry the logic of mutual struggle into the present day. With regard to this we gratefully recall those many Polish friends who helped us accept the new spirit of the times and to become fellows in the great cause of understanding between our nations. Secondly our efforts towards good neighbour relations can be honoured by certain awards, yet can never be considered finally complete. It is enough to merely say to oneself:  “That’s it, we’ve achieved what we wanted”, for the enemy of the human race to begin the labours of Sisyphus from the beginning again Therefore in the public and political life of both our countries there must be no lack of positive creative initiatives which will help us to meet the new challenges of the time.

We would ask you to assure the President of Poland that in gratefully accepting this award, we remain ready together with our Polish colleagues to develop the experience of mutually beneficial cooperation and understanding.

On behalf of the recipients of the awards,

Myroslav Marynovych