Poland's government says it is abandoning a plan to include images in Polish passports of landmarks that are now within the borders of Ukraine and Lithuania.
The passport plan had angered both Ukraine and Lithuania, with the government in Kyiv calling it an "unfriendly step that will have a negative impact on the development of the Ukraine-Polish strategic partnership."
The Polish government's proposal appeared to break a longstanding practice of not making any claim, even symbolic, to territories Poland lost in the redrawing of borders during the 20th century.
The disputed images were of a Polish military cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, and the 16th century Gate of Dawn in Vilnius -- one of the most important religious, historical, and cultural monuments in the Lithuanian capital.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak says his ministry has picked other images to include in place of the two disputed ones.
The new passports are due to be introduced in 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence after more than a century of foreign rule.
The pages of the new passports will feature background images of 26 national symbols.
