A large number of Ukrainian presidents have declined the Order of the White Eagle
This is reported by "European Truth".
Ukrainian presidents return Polish honours
On the evening of Saturday, 20 June, Ukraine’s fifth president, Petro Poroshenko, announced that he was declining the Order of the White Eagle.
He became the third former head of state to take this step. Earlier, Ukraine’s third president, Viktor Yushchenko, had announced that he was returning the award.
The first among Ukraine’s former presidents to decline the order was Leonid Kuchma, whom Poland had awarded its highest state honour back in 1997.
Navrotsky’s decision regarding Zelenskyy
On 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced the decision to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
He cited the naming of one of the Ukrainian military units after the UPA as the reason. Navrotsky stated that Poland would not support the accession to the European Union of those who, in his words, were not prepared to renounce the “cult of totalitarianism and violence”.
Following this, Zelenskyy announced that he had returned the Polish award and sent the Order to Karol Nawrocki by post.
Ukrainian officials are also returning their honours
Following the Polish side’s decision to renounce their awards, Ukrainian officials have also made similar announcements. In particular, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar and the Head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, have decided to return their Polish honours. The situation surrounding the Order of the White Eagle has caused a major stir in relations between Kyiv and Warsaw.
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