Polish PiS politician calls for showing Ukraine “its strength” over UPA unit name

The deputy chairman of the Polish party Law and Justice, Tobiash Bokhenskyy, has called on Polish authorities to change their attitude toward Ukraine — in connection with Kyiv’s decision to name one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units after “the heroes of the UPA.”

The politician made the statement in an interview with the Polsat television channel.

“Poland must behave differently toward Ukraine and show [it] its strength. We must react to situations of this kind, because it is impossible for us to have a neighbor of this kind with an ideology of this kind,” Bokhensky said.

Earlier, on July 11, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stated that the country’s residents do not want to see the black-and-red flag of the OUN-UPA in their home. Nawrocki also added that there is no place in the European Union for the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism, and called UPA members “not the heroes that the region is waiting for.”

The naming of a Ukrainian army unit after the “Heroes of the UPA” triggered a serious deterioration in Polish-Ukrainian relations in 2026. Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle. In response, three former presidents of Ukraine — Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko — renounced their Polish state awards.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha spoke about what kind of relations Ukraine and Poland are “destined” to have.