Poland strips Zelensky of top honour in wartime history row
Poland and Ukraine are embroiled in a diplomatic dispute over wartime history less than a week before they are due to jointly host a major conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced on X on Friday that he had decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honour, was presented to Zelensky in 2023 by then-president Andrzej Duda as a symbol of friendship between Poland and Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion.
The row was triggered in late May when Zelensky granted an army unit the honorary title “Heroes of the UPA.”
Members of the wartime underground Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) resisted Soviet rule after World War II. However, UPA fighters were also responsible for massacres of tens of thousands of Poles and Jews in what is now western Ukraine during the war.
In a video posted on X, Nawrocki said the UPA had committed “brutal crimes” against Poles that could not be forgotten.
Nawrocki said the decision did not alter the strategic foundations of Polish security policy and support for Ukraine in its defensive fight against Russia.
Zelensky’s decision had sparked outrage across Poland’s political spectrum.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the furore by announcing that he would return a high Polish state honour awarded to him in 2022.
In a Facebook post, Sybiha described the stripping of Zelensky’s award as a strategic mistake by the Polish president that would benefit only Moscow.
He also criticized what he called unjustified and condescending actions by Polish politicians towards both Zelensky and the Ukrainian state.
The dispute threatens to overshadow a major international event scheduled for next week.
A reconstruction conference for Ukraine is due to take place in the Polish city of Gdansk on June 25-26, bringing together the EU, the G7 and other donors. Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting the conference.
