Polish President Duda has come under fire from his ruling coalition after saying he was unsure whether Ukraine would retake Crimea.
"It's hard to answer that question. I don't know if Ukraine will be able to regain control of Crimea, but I believe they will regain Donetsk and Lugansk," Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview on February 2 when asked if he believed Ukraine would regain the Crimean peninsula.
President Duda said the Crimean peninsula was a "special land", partly for historical reasons. "In fact, if you look at the past, this land was controlled by Russia for most of the time," he added.
The Polish President's remarks have drawn strong criticism from the ruling opposition coalition in Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government.
"What a stupid statement. I would like to remind Mr Duda that some cities in our country have been Polish for a shorter time than they were foreign," said Roman Giertych, an MP from the Civic Alliance (KO) party, the largest faction in Poland's ruling coalition.
Ukraine's ambassador to Poland Vasyl Zvarych did not comment on Mr Duda's remarks, but reaffirmed Kiev's sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who has recently clashed with Mr Duda, said his country "respects Ukraine's independence within internationally recognised borders".
President Duda speaks in Warsaw on February 1. Photo: Office of the President of Poland
In an effort to defuse tensions, President Duda later posted a message on social media opposing Russia's campaign in Ukraine, affirming that Poland would "stand by Ukraine's freedom, independence and sovereignty." MP Radoslaw Fogiel of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, an ally of Mr Duda, also said that criticism of the Polish president was unfounded.
Poland has been one of the most ardent supporters of Ukraine since the war broke out in the country in late February 2022. Warsaw has repeatedly asserted that Kiev must regain all territories controlled by Moscow to prevent Russia from further expanding the conflict in the region.
However, the relationship between the two countries has recently escalated, related to the issue of cheap Ukrainian grain affecting the domestic market of Poland and some European countries. The leaders of Poland and Ukraine have also recently made many statements criticizing each other.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, followed by the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces in late 2022. Ukraine does not recognize Russia's move, declaring that it will take back the territories controlled by the opponent at all costs.
Pham Giang (According to Reuters )
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