As Ukraine slowly comes to terms with its Soviet past, neighboring Poland, which had been racing ahead in the process, seems to be faltering. Polish opposition and international observers say the country’s new leadership under Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydlo is actively seeking to control and censor historical debate.“Historical politics should be conducted by the Polish state as an element of the construction of our international position,” Duda told journalists during a meeting of the National Development Council on Feb. 16. The Polish president said that the policy should be aggressive and “consistently implemented to achieve the intended purpose.”

‘Under attack from everyone’