Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned that the growing political clash between Warsaw and Kyiv is a “strategic mistake” that risks damaging both countries, as tensions deepen over historical grievances and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s loss of Poland’s highest state honor.
“The political conflict between Poland and Ukraine is a strategic mistake that will cost both sides – economically, geopolitically and in terms of reputation,” Tusk wrote on social media on Sunday.
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“And in politics, as we know, a mistake is worse than a crime,” he added.
Tusk said he has been telling European leaders that he is working to “minimize losses and reduce tensions,” admitting that “this is not an easy task.”
Honor revoked
The dispute erupted after Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday that he was stripping Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest distinction.
The move came after Zelensky approved naming a Ukrainian military unit after the “Heroes of UPA” – a reference viewed in Ukraine as honoring anti-Soviet resistance, but one that many Poles associate with the massacres of tens of thousands of ethnic Poles during World War II.
Zelensky received the award in 2023 from then-President Andrzej Duda. A day after Nawrocki’s announcement, the Ukrainian leader published photos showing that the insignia had been returned.
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