Councillors in the Polish city of Przemyśl voted on Monday 26 October to suspend their official cooperation with the Ukrainian city of Lviv. The decision was a direct response to a recent move by the Lviv Oblast Council, which designated 2027 as the Year of the UPA and Roman Shukhevych. The UPA, or Ukrainian Insurgent Army, was a nationalist paramilitary group that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily engaging in conflict with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
The vote to suspend the partnership was unanimous, with twenty one councillors voting in favor of the resolution. No members of the council voted against the measure or abstained. According to reports from the Polish Press Agency, the councillors argued that the decision adopted by the Lviv Oblast Council on 20 October insulted the memory of Polish victims of crimes committed by the UPA.
Local officials stated that the Ukrainian regional decision ran counter to efforts to build diplomatic relations based on historical truth and mutual respect. The resolution adopted in Przemyśl requires Mayor Wojciech Bakun to take legal steps to terminate the cooperation agreement that has been in place since 1995. The mayor is tasked with informing Lviv city authorities of this new position and reporting back to the local council on the specific measures taken and the date the agreement will cease to be in force.
Despite the suspension, the resolution includes provisions for resuming cooperation. The partnership can be reinstated if the Lviv Oblast Council definitively repeals or formally withdraws the resolution regarding 2027. Additionally, Lviv city authorities must clearly distance themselves from initiatives that are perceived as glorifying structures responsible for crimes against civilians.
Mayor Wojciech Bakun addressed the decision on his Facebook page, noting that the council had engaged in a lengthy discussion before reaching a consensus. He stated that the councillors unanimously decided to suspend all joint activities until Lviv authorities clearly state their position on the promotion of ideologies directed against Poland and the Polish people. Bakun expressed gratitude to his colleagues for taking this stance, arguing that it demonstrated a refusal to remain indifferent to what he described as provocative and anti Polish actions.
The background of this dispute traces back to 20 October, when the Lviv Oblast Council voted to declare 2027 the year of Roman Shukhevych, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and Oleh Olzhych. This decision immediately drew criticism from various Polish officials. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later commented that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made it clear he would not support further steps by the Lviv Oblast Council to formalize the declaration.
The reaction in Poland has not been limited to Przemyśl. The city council of Wrocław unanimously condemned the decision by the Lviv Oblast Council to declare 2027 the year of the UPA. Similarly, the new mayor of Kraków, Łukasz Gibała, has proposed suspending that city's partnership with Lviv in response to the same regional decision. These moves highlight a growing tension between several Polish cities and Ukrainian regional authorities regarding the commemoration of the UPA and its leaders.
The suspension in Przemyśl marks a significant step in the diplomatic relationship between the two border cities. While the legal termination process is now underway, the door remains open for a return to normalcy if the Ukrainian side revises its commemorative plans. The situation underscores the complex historical narratives that continue to influence political decisions in both Poland and Ukraine.
