Poland‘s nationalist President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday the decision to strip his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Poland’s highest award, the Order of the White Eagle.
Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv have been high for days due to Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian army unit after an insurgent army (UPA) from World War II that Warsaw accuses of participating in massacres against Poles.
In 2023, Poland’s then-President Andrzej Duda awarded Zelenskyy the Order of the White Eagle for his contributions to security, resilience, and the defense of human rights.
What did Nawrocki say?
In his address on X, Nawrocki said Poland had “repeatedly” called on Ukraine to change the name of the unit. “The Ukrainian side’s position has not changed,” he added.
“Therefore, in light of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ‘Heroes of the UPA’… I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine,” Nawrocki said.
“Historical truth is not, and can never be, a bargaining chip. Remembering the victims is a moral obligation of the Polish state,” said Nawrocki, who became president last year.
However, he added that revoking the honor did not mean that Poland would reduce its support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
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Kyiv calls Nawrocki’s decision ‘strategic error’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded by saying that Poland committed a “strategic error” with its president’s decision to strip Zelenskyy of a state award.
“The decision to strip the president of Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle is a strategic error by the President of Poland that only benefits Moscow,” Sybiha wrote on Facebook.
“We regret that instead of looking for solutions, the Polish side decided to escalate this conflict to an unacceptable and inappropriate level,” he added. “No president of another country is going to dictate our history to us.”
Meanwhile, Poland’s liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that the conflict between Poland and Ukraine “pleases (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and shocks our allies.”
“It is the task of Presidents Zelenskyy and Nawrocki to calm emotions, not to stoke tensions.” he said. “The front line lies elsewhere.”
Tensions between neighbors
The Polish president’s move escalates the dispute between the neighbors and allies. Nawrocki made his decision just days before Poland was set to host the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk. It is now unclear whether Zelenskyy will attend.
The UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) was a military resistance organization that fought for Ukrainian independence against Nazi German and Soviet forces.
However, the UPA has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles during World War II, primarily in Nazi-occupied Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
Ukrainians claim that both the UPA and Polish underground forces were involved in attacks and reprisals that resulted in significant civilian casualties among Poles and Ukrainians alike.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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