President of Poland Karol Nawrocki stated that Polish society “is united in condemning the actions of Ukrainian nationalists”. He denied the existence of internal political struggle over the decision to deprive Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki responded to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky regarding statements about internal political struggle in Polish society over the decision to strip Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle. This is reported by UNN with reference to Polsat News.
Details
According to Nawrocki, the Polish side categorically does not accept the “red-black Banderite flag,” and the discussion lies solely in the plane of different perceptions of history.
Volodymyr, dear Mr. President, the dispute does not concern Poland’s internal affairs at all. They do not exist, because all Poles know and understand how much evil Ukrainian nationalists have done to Poles, to Polish children. President Zelensky is mistaken.
– the statement reads.
He added that Polish society and politicians are “absolutely united on the issue of condemning the actions of Ukrainian nationalists during World War II, and there is no internal conflict here.”
Context
President of Poland Karol Nawrocki decided to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle and emphasized that there are limits in Polish-Ukrainian relations that cannot be crossed.
The decision was made after Nawrocki stated that he views critically President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to name a Ukrainian special forces unit “named after the Heroes of UPA.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky named one of the units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “named after the Heroes of UPA” at the end of May.
The Order of the White Eagle was awarded to Volodymyr Zelensky in 2023 by then-President of Poland Andrzej Duda.
Zelensky sent the Order of the White Eagle back to the President of Poland via “Nova Poshta.”
In a gesture of support and solidarity with the Ukrainian leader, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, returned the Knight’s Cross of the Order “For Merit of the Republic of Poland.”
Simultaneously, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sybiga, called the decision to strip the President of Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle a strategic mistake by the President of Poland and added that he would return his Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order “For Merit to Poland.”
The second President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, also reacted to the conflict. He also returned his Order of the White Eagle and urged not to put the past above the future in relations between Ukraine and Poland.
The third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, followed his example. He also renounced the high Polish award. Yushchenko believes that the decision to strip the acting head of state of the order affects the entire Ukrainian people.
Following Yushchenko and Kuchma, the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, also refused the highest Polish order. He called Nawrocki’s decision mistaken and harmful to Ukrainian-Polish relations.
Recall
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he does not intend to cancel the honorary name “Heroes of UPA” awarded to one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite the decision of Polish President Karol Nawrocki to strip him of the Order of the White Eagle.