Polish president announces withdrawing country's highest honor from Zelensky

Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday that he was withdrawing the country's highest distinction from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Order of the White Eagle, against a backdrop of tensions linked to the shared history of the two neighboring states.

This decision, highly symbolic, could harm bilateral relations, Warsaw being one of the most ardent supporters of Kiev, both on a military and humanitarian level, since the start of its invasion by Russia in February 2022.

"I decided to withdraw the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine (...). At this stage, I would like to emphasize that this decision is not directed against the Ukrainian people. It does not mean a change in the strategic direction of Poland's security policy," Karol explained Nawrocki in a speech on the X network.

In April 2023, the presentation of this decoration to Volodymyr Zelensky was seen as an expression of exceptional solidarity between the two countries.

But in response to Volodymyr Zelensky's decision at the end of May to name a military unit the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) -- a Second World War nationalist organization held responsible in Poland for the deaths of more than 100,000 Poles -- Mr. Nawrocki said he was "outraged" and proposed depriving his counterpart of the Polish distinction.

“For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) remains above all a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during the Second World War,” explained Karol Nawrocki.

Kiev immediately reacted through the voice of its head of diplomacy, Andriï Sybiga, who denounced a “strategic error”.

“We regret that emotions took over in Warsaw and pushed Polish political leaders to take unjustified, impulsive and contemptuous measures,” he said on Facebook, referring to an “unnecessary escalation” between the two countries. He indicated that he would return to Poland another distinction that he himself received, as a sign of protest.

Even before his arrival in 2025, Mr. Nawrocki has never hidden his critical opinions regarding kyiv, showing himself hostile in particular to Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU. He also blocked legislation extending special aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland and never visited Kiev, despite several invitations from the Ukrainian side.

For its part, Kiev assured that the choice of the name of its military unit was not aimed at Poland.

The UPA was the military wing of a Ukrainian independence movement that fought the Red Army, but also faced Polish resistance and killed Polish and Jewish civilians. The UPA also sometimes collaborated with the Nazis, turning against them at other times.