Disagreement over 2027 commemorations
Przemysl councilors voted unanimously on Oct. 26 to suspend cooperation with the Ukrainian city of Lviv. This decision responds to decrees passed by Lviv’s council on Oct. 20 which declare 2027 as the Year of the UPA, the Year of Shukhevych, and the Year of Oleh Olzhych, a Ukrainian poet and political activist. These commemorations target the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and its leader, Roman Shukhevych. In Poland, historical accounts associate the UPA with the Volyn massacres occurring from 1943 to 1945, a historical event where tens of thousands of Poles died in territory that is today western Ukraine. The Lublin regional assembly also voted in support of severing ties with Lviv following these developments in the region.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described Lviv’s decision as "suicidal tactics" and said he warned President Volodymyr Zelensky that such gestures do not help already patchy Ukraine-Poland relations. This decision adds to tensions between the two countries. Poland remains an important ally in security and defense, especially as U.S. relations with Ukraine have become strenuous. The Lublin regional assembly also voted in support of severing ties with Lviv to protest the planned commemorations involving the UPA and the poet Oleh Olzhych. These Polish local authorities seek to voice opposition to the decrees regarding the UPA and Shukhevych, which they see as a provocation.
Political fallout in Kyiv and Warsaw
Piotr Lukasiewicz, Poland’s charge d’affaires in Kyiv, stated that Roman Shukhevych was a criminal who collaborated with the Nazis and whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of innocent victims, people killed simply because they were Polish. Warsaw declared Sviatoslav Sheremeta, head of Lviv’s regional council cultural committee, persona non grata and banned him from entering the Schengen area until 2031. On Oct. 21, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry told journalists that Lviv’s actions are "counterproductive to our current efforts to further develop Ukrainian-Polish relations and resolve contentious issues amid Russia’s full-scale aggression". Sergiy Solodkyy, director of the New Europe Center think tank in Kyiv, told the Kyiv Independent that "additional foreign policy challenges are the last thing Ukraine needs today". These Polish protests follow historical disputes regarding the UPA’s role in western Ukraine.
