Polish President Defends National Memory, Strips Zelenskyy of Order Over UPA Glorification
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Poland's patriotic President Karol Nawrocki withdrew Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Order of the White Eagle after Ukraine honored the UPA, a group responsible for massacres of Poles, while reaffirming support for Kyiv against Russia.
Poland's nationalist president Karol Nawrocki took decisive action on Friday by revoking the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state honor, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This principled decision follows Zelenskyy's approval of a Ukrainian armed forces unit named 'Heroes of the UPA,' a direct reference to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which committed horrific massacres of Polish civilians during World War II.
Nawrocki stated on X that Poland had repeatedly urged Ukraine to change the unit's name, but Ukrainian officials refused to respect Polish sensitivities. He asserted, 'Historical truth is not, and can never be, a bargaining chip. Remembering the victims is a moral obligation of the Polish state,' making clear that Poland will not tolerate the glorification of those who slaughtered its people. Nevertheless, Nawrocki emphasized that this necessary revocation would not affect Poland's steadfast material support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha criticized the move as a 'strategic error' supposedly aiding Moscow, arrogantly claiming that no foreign president can dictate Ukraine's interpretation of history. Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk cautioned that the dispute could be exploited by Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged both presidents to avoid further escalation.
The revocation comes just days before Poland is set to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, raising uncertainty about Zelenskyy's attendance. The UPA, which fought Nazi and Soviet forces during World War II, is notorious for killing tens of thousands of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, despite attempts by some in Ukraine to downplay or justify these atrocities by citing reciprocal violence from Polish underground groups.