Lviv Oblast administration head: Controversial resolution on Year of UPA not yet in force

Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration, has written a letter to Wojciech Saługa, Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland, drawing attention to the fact that the resolution declaring 2027 the Year of the UPA in the region has not yet been signed and has not come into force. 

Source: Polish Press Agency (PAP) citing the Chancellery of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kozytskyi expressed his conviction that the decisions of local authorities should take into account the interests of Ukraine's foreign policy and good neighbourly relations with Poland.

"I would like to inform you that the resolution of the Lviv Oblast Council referred to in your letter has not yet been signed and has not come into force. I am convinced that the decisions of the authorities at all levels must take into account the interests of Ukraine's foreign policy and good neighbourly relations with the Republic of Poland," Kozytskyi wrote.

He also stressed that he is aware of the sensitivity around issues of remembrance for the Ukrainian and Polish peoples, as well as the importance of discussing them in an atmosphere of mutual respect, openness and readiness for understanding.

Kozytskyi also recalled the importance of the long-standing partnership with the Silesian Voivodeship and thanked it for the support provided to Ukraine and the assistance to residents of Lviv Oblast and Ukrainian citizens who found refuge in the Silesian Voivodeship and across Poland during the Russian aggression.

Background:

• On 20 October, Lviv Oblast Council voted to designate 2027 as the Year of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, one of its commanders-in-chief Roman Shukhevych and Oleh Olzhych. The decision immediately drew criticism from Polish officials.
• Later, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made it clear he would not support further steps by the Lviv Oblast Council regarding the declaration of 2027 as the year of the UPA and Roman Shukhevych.
• 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.

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