Polish politicians return Ukrainian awards due to dispute over the UPA

A number of Polish politicians have announced they are renouncing Ukrainian awards. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Polish publication Rzeczpospolita.

Details

Former Minister of National Defense and head of the "PiS" faction Mariusz Błaszczak announced on the social network "X" that he would return the award received from the Ukrainian authorities.

He explained his decision as "a gesture of solidarity with all families who have been waiting for decades for the opportunity to honor their loved ones with dignity, and today still face obstacles." He also added that this is "an expression of protest against the position of the current Ukrainian authorities."

Mariusz Błaszczak's statement appeared the day after a similar statement by the head of the "Law and Justice" (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński. Kaczyński announced that he would return the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, II class, awarded to him by Ukraine.

At the same time, he emphasized that he continues to advocate for further support of Ukraine in the war with Russia, because, in his opinion, this corresponds to Poland's strategic interests.

Context

President of Poland Karol Nawrocki decided to strip President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle and emphasized that there are limits in Polish-Ukrainian relations that cannot be crossed.

The decision was made after Nawrocki stated that he is critical of the decision of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to assign the name "named after the Heroes of the UPA" to a Ukrainian Special Operations Forces unit.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy granted one of the units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the name "named after the Heroes of the UPA" at the end of May. The Order of the White Eagle was presented to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023 by the then President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

Zelenskyy sent the Order of the White Eagle back to the President of Poland via "Nova Poshta".

As a sign of support and solidarity with the Ukrainian leader, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, returned the Knight's Cross of the Order "For Merit to the Republic of Poland".

Simultaneously with him, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha, called the decision to strip the President of Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle a strategic mistake by the President of Poland and added that he would return his Commander's Cross with Star of the Order "For Merit to Poland".

The second President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, also reacted to the conflict situation. He also returned his Order of the White Eagle and called for not placing the past above the future in relations between Ukraine and Poland.

His example was followed by the third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko. He also renounced the high Polish distinction. Yushchenko believes that the decision to strip the current head of state of the order affects the entire Ukrainian people.

Following Yushchenko and Kuchma, the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, also renounced the highest order of Poland. He called Nawrocki's decision erroneous and harmful to Ukrainian-Polish relations.

Reminder

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he does not intend to cancel the honorary name "Heroes of the UPA" assigned to one of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite the decision of President of Poland Karol Nawrocki to strip him of the Order of the White Eagle.