Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced on Saturday that he returned the highest Polish state award, the Order of the White Eagle, to his Polish counterpart, Karol Nawrocki. The Polish president officially took it away from him on Friday, reports TASR according to the AFP agency.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned the Order of the White Eagle to the Polish president.
- Polish President Karol Nawrocki previously stripped Zelensky of the highest state award.
- The dispute was sparked by Kiev’s decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
Dispute over the Ukrainian Insurgent Army
With this move, Nawrocki responded to Zelensky’s decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which committed many acts of violence during World War II.
In May, Zelenskyy adopted a decree recognizing the UPA as “heroes”. While Ukraine considers the group an anti-Soviet resistance movement, Poland holds it responsible for the Volyn massacre, deportations of Jews, and violence that continued in southeastern Poland, northeastern Slovakia, and western Ukraine after the end of World War II.
Zelensky says that he respects Nawrocký’s decision
“We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was intended for the Ukrainian people and our army. That’s what it was said then. Today I returned this order to the Polish president. I believe that the future will confirm the respect that Ukrainians deserve,” Zelenskyy said on the X network, saying that Kyiv respects Nawrocki’s decision.
“Ukraine is grateful to the Polish people for their support and cooperation, which play an important role in the fight for our and your independence from Russia. Ukraine never forgets solidarity and understands that cooperation between states and peoples in our region is one of the tangible security guarantees for Ukrainians and for every neighboring state,” Zelensky noted in the post.
Zelenskyi: Ukraine is trying to ensure that Europe does not suffer defeat in this century
“Ukraine will continue to be open to all meaningful forms of cooperation with Poland to try to prevent conflicting interpretations of complex and painful chapters of our common past and to ensure due respect for all innocent victims of the 20th century,” the president emphasized.
“And we, Ukrainians, are doing everything in our power to ensure that Europe does not suffer defeat in this century,” he added, highlighting the actions of Ukrainian fighters.
