Zelenskyy sent Tusk a message regarding the Lviv Regional Council's decision on the Year of the UPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made it clear to Polish authorities that he would not support any further steps by the Lviv Regional Council to declare 2027 the Year of the UPA. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk received this message.

 

“I received a message from President Zelenskyy that, if the further procedure were up to him, he would not support this in any way. He was very dissatisfied with what happened,” Tusk said.

The Polish prime minister noted that he had made significant efforts to resolve the “crisis over the orders” and to explain why such decisions harm Ukraine’s interests and require careful consideration in light of the two nations’ dramatic shared history.

At the same time, Tusk acknowledged the complexity and ambiguity of both countries’ histories, while emphasizing that Ukrainians “cannot seek any excuses” regarding the Volhynia tragedy and Shukhevych.

“I understand all the complexities and would like Poles to also understand that, of course, all of this is very ambiguous—both in our history and in theirs—but genocide cannot be justified in any way. Ukraine will simply face very serious difficulties regarding European integration if it does not also respect our sensitivities (on this issue—ed.). We do not expect anything extraordinary in advance,” he emphasized.

The Polish prime minister added that he had spent many hours explaining the Polish position on this issue to Zelenskyy, and he got the impression that the Ukrainian president understood it.

“However, it is difficult for me to take responsibility for the decisions of certain members of Lviv’s district or regional councils. This looks like a planned provocation by one of the local nationalists. It is very unwise and unnecessary,” Tusk noted, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

Earlier, Tusk criticized the decision to declare 2027 the Year of Shukhevych, the UPA, and Olzhych.

On August 24, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki stated that honoring Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych in the National Pantheon could complicate Ukraine’s European integration. According to him, this could worsen Kyiv’s relations not only with Warsaw but also with Europe as a whole.

Polish Member of the European Parliament Marcin Sipniewski of the “Confederation” party tore up portraits of Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych during a speech in the European Parliament. He also called for an end to financial support for Ukraine.