Professor Michał Kleiber, Chancellor of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle, admitted that he was not surprised by President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the decoration, stressing, “I am among those who supported it”.
President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday that, in view of the consent given by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to name one of the military units “Heroes of the UPA”, and after consultations with the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle, he had decided to revoke the decoration from Zelenskyy.
“I was not surprised by this decision. I am among those who supported it”, Professor Kleiber said in an interview, commenting on the president’s decision.
“It brings to a close an issue that had been disturbing public calm for three weeks”, added Professor Kleiber, who is also a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle and has served as Chancellor of its Chapter since 2021.
Zelenskyy was awarded the Order of the White Eagle in April 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda. At the end of May, the President of Ukraine announced that he had given one of the Ukrainian military units the name “Heroes of the UPA”. The decision triggered a wave of criticism in Poland, and President Nawrocki proposed that one of the agenda items of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle meeting convened for 8 June be the revocation of the decoration from Zelenskyy. After the meeting, presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz stated that the Chapter had presented its opinion on the matter to Karol Nawrocki, who participated in its deliberations.
Currently, in addition to President Nawrocki, the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle includes: Professor Michał Kleiber, Zofia Romaszewska, Adam Bujak, Wojciech Roszkowski, and Bronisław Wildstein.
The awarding of decorations is a prerogative of the president. The president confers orders on his own initiative or at the request of the prime minister and the chapters of orders. According to the Act on Orders and Decorations, the president may decide to revoke an order at the request of, among others, the relevant chapter, or on his own initiative after consulting the appropriate chapter, if it is determined that “the order or decoration was awarded as a result of being misled, or the recipient committed an act as a result of which they became unworthy of the order or decoration”.
The Order of the White Eagle is the oldest and highest Polish state decoration. The Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle is chaired by the president. The Chapter has the right to express opinions on all matters concerning the order and may also, among other things, submit motions to the president regarding the awarding or revocation of the decoration.