The decision to name 2027 the year of the UPA commander Roman Shukhevych, poet and OUN activist Oleh Olzhych, and UPA in the Lviv region has not yet come into effect.
This is stated in a letter from the head of the Lviv Regional Administration Maksym Kozytsky at the request of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship Wojciech Saluga, quoted by RAR.
According to Kozytsky, this decision has not yet been signed. He added that "decisions of authorities at all levels must take into account the interests of Ukraineʼs foreign policy and good-neighborly relations with the Republic of Poland".
What preceded
Svyatoslav Sheremeta, a deputy of the Lviv Regional Council and director of the “Dolya” center, which deals with exhumations, including those of victims of the Volyn tragedy, proposed declaring 2027 the year of the UPA commander Roman Shukhevych, poet and OUN figure Oleh Olzhych, and UPA. Deputies of the Lviv Regional Council supported this idea at a meeting on October 20.
Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the decision “unacceptable”, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “suicidal tactics”. The mayors of Krakow and Przemyśl proposed suspending their partnership with Lviv.
That evening, Sheremeta was officially added to Polandʼs list of persons undesirable and banned from entering the Schengen area until 2031. Sheremeta called Polandʼs reaction "very strange", stressing that every nation has the right to its own heroes. He recalled that in 2017, Poland had already declared him persona non grata "for his views on history".
At the same time, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry told reporters that the decision of the Lviv Regional Council is "counterproductive" for the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations. They emphasized that the deputies did not consult with the central authorities, and called on Poland to "refrain from drastic steps”.
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