The Ukrainian foreign Ministry has justified the celebration of Bandera

the Ukrainian foreign Ministry responded to the criticism of Poland and Israel celebration in Ukraine of the leader of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian nationalists, banned in Russia), Stepan Bandera and other Ukrainian nationalists during the Second world war who collaborated with the Nazis.

Previously, a number of countries were outraged by a torchlight March in Central Kiev, which the supporters of Ukrainian right-wing parties and organizations held in Central Kiev January 1 – the 111th birthday of Bandera.

the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Ukraine met his “revival of the national memory of the Ukrainian people “. And this, according to the press Secretary of the Ukrainian foreign Ministry of Ukraine Ekaterina Zelenko, — “one of the priorities of the state policy of Ukraine”.

At the same Zelenko noted that “each nation and each state independently defines and celebrates the heroes”.

In her words, “a civilized nation must proceed from the principle of honoring all the victims, and discussions in this field should continue at the level of historians and experts, not politicians”, reports TASS.

the representative of the foreign Ministry of Ukraine added that the friendly relations of Ukraine with Poland and Israel is “an important asset, and to prevent any attempts to provoke tension in the bilateral relationship.”

Earlier, the Ambassador of Poland in Ukraine Bartosz Tsihotsky and his Israeli counterpart Yuli-Yoel Lyon issued a joint statement calling Bandera March in Kiev insult.

With great regret and concern of the diplomats said that the representatives of the different levels of government in Ukraine, noted historical events that “should once and for all to condemn.”