Zelensky could be stripped of top Polish honour, Poland’s President says

WARSAW – Poland’s President said on May 29 that he wanted a state body to discuss stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s top honour, after Ukraine renamed an army unit after nationalist insurgents who massacred Poles in World War II.

Poland has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv during Russia’s war in Ukraine, and former president Andrzej Duda awarded Mr Zelensky the Order of the White Eagle in 2023.

But Mr Zelensky has caused indignation in Poland by signing a decree recognising a Ukrainian special forces unit’s contribution to the fight against Russian forces by naming it after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Some Ukrainians regard the UPA as heroes for the resistance they mounted against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and as symbols of Kyiv’s struggle for independence from Moscow.

But the UPA was also involved in the Volhynia massacres, a series of killings from 1943 to 1945 in which Poland says around 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists. Thousands of Ukrainians also died in reprisal killings.

“Glorifying the UPA has provided Russian propaganda with ample oxygen for disinformation,” Mr Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist inspired by US President Donald Trump, told reporters in Warsaw on May 29.

He said supporting Ukraine against Russia was a strategic goal for Poland. But the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle, an advisory council which oversees Poland’s highest and oldest state decoration, will meet on June 8, he said.

“I proposed that one of the items on the agenda be the revocation of President Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle,” he said, explaining that “certain mechanisms” such as a Chapter meeting were needed before he could take a final decision.

Decision ‘wounds’ memory of victims

Mr Nawrocki has tapped into weariness among some Poles with the large number of Ukrainians in the country, and promised during his election campaign to put “Poles first”.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry said on social media platform X on May 29 that renaming the Ukrainian unit after the UPA “wounds the memory of the victims of that organisation and strikes at the dialogue between our nations”.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian presidency declined to comment on Mr Nawrocki’s remarks.

“We’re just thankful to Poland for all the support and we hope that our independence, and Poland’s, will remain strong despite all the Russian attempts to kill it,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Zelensky received the Order of the White Eagle in recognition of his contributions to bilateral relations, democracy, peace and security in Europe and for “steadfastness in defending inalienable human rights”. REUTERS