Polish city of Przemyśl suspends cooperation with Lviv over Year of UPA decision

Councillors in the Polish city of Przemyśl agreed on Monday 26 October to suspend cooperation with Lviv following a recent decision by the Lviv Oblast Council to designate 2027 as the Year of the UPA and Roman Shukhevych, one of its commanders-in-chief. 

Source: Przemyśl Mayor Wojciech Bakun on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Twenty-one councillors voted in favour of the resolution to suspend the partnership with Lviv. No one voted against or abstained.

According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Przemyśl councillors said the decision adopted by the Lviv Oblast Council on 20 October "insulted" the memory of Polish victims of crimes committed by the UPA and ran counter to efforts to build relations based on historical truth and mutual respect.

The resolution requires Przemyśl Mayor Wojciech Bakun to take legal steps to terminate the 1995 cooperation agreement.

However, it also provides for cooperation between the cities to resume if the Lviv Oblast Council definitively repeals or formally withdraws the resolution and Lviv's city authorities clearly distance themselves from initiatives that "glorify structures responsible for crimes against civilians".

The mayor must inform Lviv's city authorities of this position and report to Przemyśl councillors on the measures taken and the date on which the agreement will cease to be in force.

"After a lengthy discussion on the matter, all councillors unanimously decided that we would suspend all joint activities until Lviv's authorities clearly state their position on the promotion of ideologies directed against Poland and the Polish people. I would like to thank the councillors for taking this position and demonstrating that we will not remain indifferent to provocative and anti-Polish actions," Bakun wrote.

Background:

• On 20 October, the Lviv Oblast Council voted to declare 2027 the "year of Roman Shukhevych, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and Oleh Olzhych". The decision immediately drew criticism from Polish officials.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made it clear that he would not support further steps by the Lviv Oblast Council to declare 2027 the year of the UPA and Roman Shukhevych.
• The city council of Wrocław, Poland, unanimously condemned the decision by the Lviv Oblast Council to declare 2027 the year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
• Meanwhile, Kraków's new mayor, Łukasz Gibała, has proposed suspending the city's partnership with Lviv in response to the Lviv Oblast Council's decision to declare 2027 the year of the UPA.

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