Czech President Petr Pavel and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Czech president's office says Zelenskyy cannot be stripped of Order of the White Lion
The office of Czech President Petr Pavel has rejected a proposal by the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country's highest state honour, the Order of the White Lion, stating that neither the Constitution nor the law grants the president
Ukrainska Pravda
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The office of Czech President Petr Pavel has rejected a proposal by the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country's highest state honour, the Order of the White Lion, stating that neither the Constitution nor the law grants the president of Czechia the authority to decide on the revocation of state honours.
Source: Ukrinform, with reference to a spokesperson for the Czech president, as reported by European Pravda
Details: The spokesperson said that a state honour awarded or conferred by the President of the Republic could be revoked only on the basis of a final court ruling imposing a penalty in the form of the deprivation of honorary titles and state honours. The spokesperson added that such a penalty could be imposed only under the conditions set out in the Criminal Code.
Background:
The SPD party has called for Zelenskyy to be stripped of the Order of the White Lion, Czechia's highest state honour.
Zelenskyy received the Order of the White Lion in October 2022 from then-president Miloš Zeman. Zeman said the main reason for the award was Zelenskyy's bravery and courage in rejecting the American offer of asylum and deciding to remain in war-torn Kyiv after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
On the evening of 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki took the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He said Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
Following the decision, a number of current and former Ukrainian officials announced that they would return their Polish honours.
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