Poland strips Zelensky of top state award, Ukraine mounts a sharp response
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Poland strips Zelensky of top state award, Ukraine mounts a sharp response")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photograph: (AFP)
Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle after Zelensky approved the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist group blamed for massacres of Poles during World War II.
Poland's President Karol Nawrocki has revoked the country's highest honour awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a dispute over the naming of a Ukrainian military unit linked to a controversial World War II nationalist movement.
Tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv have intensified in recent days after Zelensky approved the naming of a Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist force accused of carrying out massacres of Poles during World War II.
Nawrocki withdrew the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state distinction, despite opposition from both the Ukrainian government and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Announcing the move, Nawrocki said, "Historical truth is not, and can never be, a bargaining chip."
He stated that Poland had "repeatedly" urged Ukraine to reverse the decision to name the military unit after the UPA. According to Nawrocki, "The Ukrainian side's position has not changed."
"Therefore, in light of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s consent to name one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine 'Heroes of the UPA'... I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine," he said.
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The decision comes just days before Poland is set to host the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Baltic city of Gdansk. It remains unclear whether Zelensky will attend the event.
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda presented Zelensky with the Order of the White Eagle in 2023, citing his contributions to relations between the two countries, democracy, peace and security in Europe, as well as his "steadfastness in defending inalienable human rights".
Ukraine condemns the decision
Ukraine strongly criticised the move, describing it as a "strategic mistake" from which "only Moscow stands to gain".
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also announced plans to return an award he received from Poland in 2022, calling the decision "unjustified, impulsive and disrespectful".
Although Poland remains one of Ukraine's strongest supporters in its war against Russia, public attitudes towards Ukraine have become increasingly negative in recent years.
The shift in sentiment has been driven by fatigue over the arrival of refugees, disagreements over grain imports and lingering disputes linked to the World War Two era killings of Poles by Ukrainian nationalist groups.
Despite the latest diplomatic row, Poland has remained a key ally of Ukraine throughout more than four years of war, hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees and serving as a major transit hub for Western military and humanitarian assistance.
