Ukrainian officials and former presidents began to massively refuse Polish state awards.
Relations between Ukraine and Poland found themselves at the center of a new diplomatic scandal after Polish President Karol Nawrotsky deprived Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country’s highest state award – the Order of the White Eagle. In response, UNIAN informs, Ukrainian officials and former presidents began to refuse Polish decorations, Euronews writes. The PromPolitInform portal reports.
The President of Ukraine announced that he had returned the award to Poland. He published a photo of the order prepared for sending on social networks.
“We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was intended for the Ukrainian people and our army,” Zelensky said.
At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine remains grateful to Polish society for its support since the beginning of the full-scale war.
Ukrainian officials are also refusing Polish decorations. The first to announce the return of the award was Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga, who decided to refuse the Commander’s Cross with the Star of the Order “For Merit to the Republic of Poland”.
His example was followed by the Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, who are returning their Officer’s Crosses of the same order.
They were also joined by the second, third and fifth presidents of Ukraine – Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko stressed that his decision is a reaction to the actions of the Polish president, but is not directed against the Polish people.
“I am acting in solidarity with Zelensky and the Ukrainian army,” Yushchenko said, calling Navrocki’s decision “irresponsible.”
What caused the conflict
Tensions between the countries escalated after Zelensky’s decree of May 27 to award the Separate Special Operations Center “North” with the honorary title of “Heroes of the UPA.”
The document noted that the decision was made “in order to restore the historical traditions of the national army and in view of the exemplary performance of the tasks assigned to the unit to protect the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.”
It was the honoring of the UPA that caused a sharp reaction in Poland due to historical disputes over the events in Volhynia during World War II.
The position of the Polish president
Karol Navrocki said that he learned about Kyiv’s decision “with great sadness.”
“This is not the way you build relations between peoples,” the Polish president said.
He also stressed that the glorification of the UPA creates additional opportunities for Russian propaganda and disinformation. Despite this, Nawrocki stressed that his decision is not directed against Ukrainians and does not mean Poland’s refusal to support Ukraine.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski believes that the conflict between Warsaw and Kyiv is beneficial only to Russia. A similar position was expressed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who called on both countries not to allow historical disputes to destroy the partnership.
“We cannot allow history to destroy our future,” Tusk stressed.
In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Szybiga called the Polish president’s decision a strategic mistake.
“I want to thank every Pole who clearly expressed his position against the escalation of tensions with Ukraine… We are connected by a complex history, a common future and a threat from our eternal enemy – Moscow,” he wrote.
Russia has already reacted
Amid the diplomatic conflict, Russian officials have spoken favorably of the Polish president’s decision. In particular, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev said: “The President of Poland has finally deprived Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle.”
Ukraine and Poland – latest news
As reported, former deputy of the Polish parliament Piotr Vogler returned his “Golden Cross of Merit” to the President of Poland as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine in the dispute over the orders.
In his post, he called Karol Navrotsky’s decision “senseless.” The former deputy called Navrotsky “not a president, but a misunderstanding,” and his actions a “nightmare.”
