- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Group Accuses Kiev of Not Making Good on Plan to Give Poland's Stuff Back

© Sputnik / Pavel Palamarchuk / Go to the mediabankPidhirtsi Castle in Ukraine's Lvov Region
Pidhirtsi Castle in Ukraine's Lvov Region - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Kiev has adopted double standards regarding the restitution of Polish property in Ukraine, according to Konrad Rękas, head of the Polish non-profit organization Restitution Crecy.

View of the Nordstream gas pipeline terminal prior to an inaugural ceremony for the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipeline through the baltic sea, in Lubmin November 8, 2011 - Sputnik International
Poland Considers Dividing Europe Over Russia-Germany Pipeline
In an interview with Sputnik, Konrad Rękas, head of the Polish non-profit organization Restitution Crecy, accused Kiev of double standards regarding the restitution of Polish property rights in Ukraine.

The interview came amid reports that Restitution Crecy, an organization which is fighting for the restoration of the Poles' rights to property in territory which was transferred from Poland to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic following the Second World War, had already gathered 600 packages of documents for litigation. The total value of the group's claims is reportedly about five billion dollars.

During the interview, Rękas blamed Ukrainian authorities for their unwillingness to resolve the problem of restitution.

"We are seeing an increase in the obstacles [to restitution], and a gradual closing of the archives in Ukraine," he said.

Rękas added that Kiev will hardly succeed in preventing the process of restitution.

"I would like to dispel the hopes of the Ukrainian authorities. [These 600] documents have been discussed and prepared at length. The destruction or concealment of evidence will have no impact on the cases, particularly in the European courts," he said.

He also warned the Ukrainian authorities against mixing private and public law on issues related to the restitution of Polish property rights in Ukraine after World War II.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko examines a British-made Saxon armored personnel carrier with a Ukrainian weapon system while visiting a military base outside Kiev on April 4, 2015 - Sputnik International
Why is Europe Silent About Ukraine’s Move to Confiscate Russian Property?
"The Ukrainian authorities are lying to their citizens, saying that the problem has been resolved. Moreover, Kiev is trying to conceal the true content of the agreements concluded with the European Community from its citizens," Rękas said.

He concluded by recalling that the issue of restitution had been put on the table because the Ukrainian authorities agreed to start dealing with it.

"Now, even if they resist, it means that they will sabotage their own act of [establishing] an association agreement with the EU," he pointed out.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала