Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki has stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle. The move was prompted by Zelensky’s decision to name a military unit after the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which in Poland is primarily associated with atrocities committed against the Polish civilian population during WWII. The order was awarded to Zelensky in 2023 by Andrzej Duda, Nawrocki’s predecessor.
Nawrocki insulting a nation at war
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Bogusław Chrabota, editor-in-chief of Poland’s Rzeczpospolita, rakes both Zelensky and Nawrocki over the coals:
I would like to set aside my obvious disapproval of Zelensky’s decision to name one of the Ukrainian units after the “Heroes of the UPA.” That was a distortion of history and a provocation of Polish patriotic sentiment. A misguided and unnecessary move. However, Nawrocki’s decision is, in my view, a far more serious act. It is an insult to the president of a nation at war and to the nation itself, as evidenced by the reaction of other Ukrainians who have been awarded Polish honors and have decided to return them. Was this not to be expected? I warned against it.
A tardy and pointless gesture
Poland’s Interia says the decision comes too late:
Had Karol Nawrocki trusted his own instincts and simply stripped the Ukrainian President of the Order of the White Eagle on the very first day – without dithering, without debate, without consulting the Order’s committee and without diplomatic talks with Ukraine – his gesture would have had an enormous impact. But now, having sent mixed signals, delayed the decision, and waited to see how things would develop, this comes across as just yet another attempt to trip up Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Pure politics aimed at a specific outcome, with no regard for the concrete consequences in the current international political climate.
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