Poland’s nationalist President Karol Nawrocki on Friday announced his decision to strip Poland’s highest award, the Order of the White Eagle, from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
There have been tensions between Warsaw and Kiev for days over Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian army unit after a World War II-era Uprising (UPA), which Warsaw accuses of participating in genocide against Poles.
In 2023, Andrzej Duda, then President of Poland, awarded Zelensky 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 at the X, Nawrocki said that Poland had “repeatedly” asked Ukraine to change the name of the unit. “The position of the Ukrainian side has not changed,” he said.
Nawrocki said, “Therefore, in light of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s consent to name a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ‘Heroes of the UPA’… I have decided to cancel the order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine.”
Nawrocki, who became president last year, said, “Historical truth is not and can never be a bargain. It is the moral obligation of the Polish state to remember the victims.”
However, he added that the cancellation of the honor does not mean that Poland will reduce its support for Ukraine in its defense against a full-scale invasion by Russia.
Kiev called Nawrocki’s decision a ‘strategic error’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Cybiha responded by saying that Poland had made a “strategic error” with its presidential decision to strip Zelensky of the state award.
“The decision to remove the President of Ukraine from the Order of the White Eagle is a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, which only benefits Moscow,” Sibiha wrote on Facebook.
“We regret that instead of finding a solution, the Polish side decided to escalate this conflict to an unacceptable and inappropriate level,” he said. “No president of any other country will impose our history on us.”
Meanwhile, Poland’s liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on Twitter that the conflict between Poland and Ukraine “pleases (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and shocks our allies.”
“The task of Presidents Zelensky and Nawrocki is to calm emotions, not escalate tensions.” He said. “The front line is elsewhere.”
tension between neighbors
This move of the Polish President has increased the dispute between neighbors and allies. Nawrocki made his decision just days before Poland was scheduled to host the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk. It is now unclear whether Zelensky 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 murdering thousands of Poles during World War II, primarily in Nazi-occupied Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
Ukrainians claim that the UPA and Polish underground forces were involved in both attacks and reprisals, resulting in significant civilian casualties among both Poles and Ukrainians.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico
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