President Komorowski speaks during Sunday's mass at the cathedral in Lutssk, north western Ukraine. Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk
A 21-year-old man was detained at the scene after he approached the Polish head of state following a commemorative mass at Lutsk cathedral, lunging at Komorowski and apparently squashing an egg on his shoulder.
Reports that the man was affiliated with Ukrainian nationalist opposition party Svoboda have not been confirmed, with bystanders claiming that the man had the party's logo on his backpack. Ukraine's Interfax news agency stated that police had no evidence of this.
The Svoboda party had earlier claimed that Komorowski's visit to Poland in connection with the WWII massacres of ethnic Poles by Ukrainian nationalists would harm relations between the two countries.
Appeal for reconciliation
Earlier, Komorowski had spoken of the need for reconciliation between the two nations.
“Poles and Ukrainians need one another, we have common goals and interests which are a guarantee of mutual cooperation,” he said, as cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
“This however demands a sincere reconciliation and the difficult process of forgiveness for the wrongs committed - reconciliation and forgiveness based on a painful and sad truth. We Poles and Ukrainians have to be able to bear this truth together.”
It is estimated that about 60,000 ethnic Poles were killed by Ukrainians in the German Nazi-occupied region of Volhynia (which had been divided between Poland and the Soviet Union prior to the war).
Several thousand more were killed when fighting spread west to other parts of occupied southern Poland. The higher estimates of combined figures reach about 100,000.
Attacks were orchestrated by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalistic guerilla force, that desired Ukrainian independence.
Poles fought back, and it is estimated that about 2000-3000 Ukrainians were killed in Volhynia, and about 20,000 more when the fighting spread to other areas of south east Poland.
During yesterday's mass, Komorowski also called for a prayer for Ukrainians who were killed by Poles in acts of revenge.
The commemorations in Ukraine were not attended by President Viktor Yanukovych, and the Ukrainian authorities were instead represented by Deputy Prime Minister Konstantin Gryshchenko, who paid his respects to the victims, and also warned against “the politicisation of this difficult matter.”
Meanwhile, during Sunday's Angelus, Pope Francis directed his prayers to those gathered at the ceremonies in Luck and the victims of the Volhynia tragedy, which he said was dictated by nationalist ideology. The Pope spoke also of the need for reconciliation between Poland and Ukraine.
On Friday the Polish parliament passed a resolution describing WWII massacres of Poles by Ukrainians as “ethnic cleansing bearing the hallmarks of genocide.” The resolution was controversial, with chief conservative opposition party Law and Justice and junior coalition partner the Polish Peasants' Party among those claiming that the Volhynia massacre should be described as plain genocide. (nh/ab)