Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Daniel Rotfeld has attributed the successful opening of the Polish [1919 war] cemetery in Lviv on Friday [24 June] to Poland's active involvement in last autumn's transformations in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters in Warsaw on Friday, Rotfeld said he was pleased with the reconciliation mass celebrated by Polish and Ukrainian Catholic bishops, which may start the process of reconciliation between the two nations.
The opening of the Polish cemetery in Lviv leads to fuller understanding and reconciliation between the two nations, believes Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk expressed the conviction that the opening of the cemetery will become a message for future generations of Poles and Ukrainians.
The country's Culture Minister Oksana Bilozir stressed it was a proof that Ukraine deserved to be present in Europe.
The chairman of the Community of Poles Abroad (Wspolnota Polska) Professor Andrzej Stelmachowski and writer Jerzy Janicki, born in Lviv, did not try to conceal that they were deeply moved by the ceremony.
Satisfaction in connection with the opening of the Polish cemetery in Lvov was also expressed by Poland's last President-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski.
However, some former Lviv residents did not spare sceptical opinions. World-renowned composer Wojciech Kilar, who was born in Lviv said that improvement in Polish-Ukrainian relations, as symbolised by the opening of the cemetery was based on shaky foundations and was rather not conducive to reconciliation between the two nations.
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