European Parliament condemns renaming of Ukrainian Armed Forces unit after UPA heroes

The European Parliament adopted, by 460 votes, a report on Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership, in which it expressed regret over the Ukrainian president’s decision to name an elite Ukrainian Armed Forces unit after UPA heroes.

This was reported by the European Parliament’s press service.

The resolution includes a dedicated section on Ukraine’s good-neighborly relations, which specifically addresses the Polish-Ukrainian dispute over the name of the military unit.

“Regarding the renaming of an elite Ukrainian Armed Forces unit after UPA heroes, MEPs express regret at the disregard for the sensitivity and painfulness of this issue for Poland, and consider this decision to be undermining good-neighborly relations, calling for de-escalation and a resumption of sincere efforts aimed at reconciliation.”

The adopted wording was the result of negotiations led by Polish MEPs from the European People’s Party, RMF24 reports. Deputies from the right-conservative Law and Justice party had previously submitted their own amendments with stronger language: they proposed linking Ukraine’s prospect of EU accession to the resolution of historical disputes over ethnic cleansing in Volhynia and emphasized the connection between UPA ideology and Nazism. Ultimately, a “compromise” amendment by Andrzej Halicki, agreed upon with the report’s rapporteur — German MEP Michael Gahler — received support. The final wording in which this part of the document was approved had not yet been published at the time of publication. Polish MEPs’ preparation of such an amendment had been reported as early as last week.

In a broader context, MEPs called for a “constructive discussion” on how to advance Ukraine’s EU accession process in light of the European Union’s strategic interests. The document welcomed the opening of the first negotiating cluster and expressed hope for the early opening of subsequent ones. Member states were urged to take into account the dynamics of processes in candidate countries and to counter Russia’s attempts to undermine public support for European integration there.

Ukraine was praised for its wartime efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and maintain the separation of powers; progress in judicial reform and the fight against corruption was noted, and Ukraine was urged to continue this process. The issue of the first upcoming post-war elections was also raised: MEPs stressed the importance of holding them a sufficient time after the lifting of martial law, so as to meet the standards of free and fair elections. The position of the United States, which has been calling on Ukraine to hold elections during the war, was criticized.

MEPs also noted the need to support Ukraine at a moment when it is seizing the initiative and to increase pressure on Russia’s war machine.

Separately, Law and Justice MEP Piotr Müller announced that their group had submitted a proposal to hold a debate and adopt a resolution in memory of the victims of the “UPA genocide.”