Przemyśl City Council halts sister-city ties with Lviv over UPA commemoration

On a unanimous vote, the Przemyśl city council adopted a resolution obliging Mayor Wojciech Bakun to suspend the town’s partnership with Lviv, a relationship that began in 1995. Bakun highlighted that Lviv has repeatedly organized events honoring the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and its commander Roman Szuchowicz, a figure associated with the wartime killings of Poles in Volhynia. He warned that such glorification weakens the Polish narrative of resistance against Russia.

The controversy stems from a recent decision by the Lviv regional council to proclaim 2027 as the year of the UPA, its leader Szuchowicz, and Oleg Olżycz of the OUN. The Lviv deputy Swiatosław Szeremeta, who initiated the proposal, was added to Poland’s list of undesirable persons, and a five-year travel ban was imposed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.