"His behaviour has changed." Duda comments on Zelenskyy and the Order of the White Eagle
This was stated by Poland’s former president, Andrzej Duda, in comments to Onet, in response to a statement by his successor, Karol Nawrocki, regarding the possible stripping of Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honour – the Order of the White Eagle.
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy received the Order of the White Eagle at a different time and when conditions were different. Now they have changed, as has Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s behaviour. And that is obvious,” Duda noted.
He agreed that the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the award should be made by Nawrocki.
“Of course, the president will listen to the jury’s opinion and will certainly take all the circumstances and facts into account when making a decision,” said the former Polish president.
It was Duda who, in 2023, presented Zelenskyy with Poland’s highest state honour – the Order of the White Eagle – as a sign of special respect and support for the Ukrainian-Polish partnership.
Poland wants to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle: why this happened
On 26 May, Zelensky issued a decree granting the ‘North’ Special Operations Centre of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title ‘of the Heroes of the UPA’. The document states that the aim of this decision is to “restore the historical traditions of the national army”.
This decree by the Ukrainian president has drawn significant criticism from some Polish politicians, who have condemned it, recalling that the UPA committed crimes against Poles in Volhynia.
In particular, former Polish President Lech Wałęsa, who had supported Ukraine and Zelenskyy himself, also condemned the Ukrainian president and stated that he would remove the lapel pin in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, which he had been wearing since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The Polish Institute of National Remembrance also reacted, stating in its declaration that the UPA was responsible for the ‘genocide in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia’ and emphasising that “the Ukrainian authorities’ creation of a cult of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army should provoke opposition from all those who remember the activities of this formation”.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki also criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for naming a Special Operations Forces unit ‘after the Heroes of the UPA’. As a result, he proposed stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland’s highest honour, which was awarded to him by former Polish President Andrzej Duda.
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