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Ukraine is not ready to join the EU. Navrotsky proposes stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle

Ukraine is not ready to join the EU. Navrotsky proposes stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle

29 May 2026, 17:45

Ukraine is not ready to join the EU. Navrotsky proposes stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has criticised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for naming a Special Operations Forces unit ‘after the Heroes of the UPA’. As a result, he is calling for Zelenskyy to be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland’s highest honour, which was awarded to him by former Polish President Andrzej Duda.

He told journalists this, according to PAP.

According to Navrotsky, Zelenskyy’s decision played into Russian propaganda and also proved that Ukraine should not join the European Union ‘without any conditions’.

“President Zelenskyy has shown that, from a mental perspective, given the glorification of bandits and murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Ukraine is not ready to be part of the European family,” he believes.

Navrotsky is convinced that, from a strategic point of view, supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia and against “the bandit that is Vladimir Putin” is a strategic goal for Poland, but “this is not how relations between nations are built”.

The Polish president also added that a meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle will take place on 8 June, and he proposed that one of the items on the agenda should be to strip Zelenskyy of this award.

The Order of the White Eagle is Poland’s oldest and highest honour. Zelenskyy was awarded it by former Polish President Andrzej Duda in 2023 for his work in the field of security, his steadfastness in defending human rights, and in recognition of his contributions to deepening relations between Poland and Ukraine.

What is known about Zelenskyy’s decree

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”.

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