Włodzimierz Czarzasty appealed to Karol Nawrocki for restraint regarding the possible revocation of the Order of the White Eagle from Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Speaker of the Sejm, while criticizing the Ukrainian president’s decision to name one of the military units “Heroes of the UPA,” also warned against escalating tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv. In his view, every further step could provoke a response from the Ukrainian side and deepen the crisis in relations between the two countries. How did he justify this? By warning against taking offense and mass “returning of orders.”
Czarzasty criticizes the president over his decision regarding Zelenskyy
After, at the end of May, the President of Ukraine named one of his country’s military units “Heroes of the UPA,” a meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle was convened for Monday to address, among other things, President Nawrocki’s proposal to strip Zelenskyy of the decoration.
“Today, the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle met regarding the order awarded to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Chapter presented its opinion to the President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki, who participated in the meeting,” wrote presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz on X yesterday evening. He added that the president would make a decision “at the appropriate time.”
Czarzasty: I appeal for reason
Asked about President Karol Nawrocki’s decision, the Chapter’s opinion, and the “appeal” by Donald Tusk calling for a conversation between the presidents of Poland and Ukraine, Włodzimierz Czarzasty said he was presenting “a very clear position on this matter.”
“As you know, I am in constant contact with the Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament. I spoke with him about this most recently on Friday. President Zelenskyy’s decision is a bad one. I say this clearly. It is a decision that should not have happened. It is a decision that should be condemned and called what it deserves. However, the problem is not to escalate this conflict,” he stated during a press conference in the Sejm.
As he added, “someone in this matter, without offending anyone, must be wiser.”
The Speaker of the Sejm appealed to both presidents for… reason.
“If it is the case that the decision is now on the Polish side, I would really advise thinking ten times before making decisions regarding Ukraine. Because these decisions may trigger further decisions on the Ukrainian side – for example, everyone will return their orders. Then the same will happen on the Polish side, and meanwhile there is a war. Ukraine is at war, Ukraine borders Poland. Therefore, I appeal, I ask for reason from all sides – both from President Nawrocki and President Zelenskyy,” Czarzasty continued.
He went on: “In this matter, I had a meeting both with the head of President Zelenskyy’s office and spoke on Friday with the Speaker of the parliament, asking them to reconsider the issue very carefully and simply be wiser in this matter. I condemn this decision, but I fear escalation, because in two weeks there will be the third major meeting on the reconstruction of Ukraine. Several thousand companies from both the European Union and Ukraine will attend. The meeting will take place in Gdańsk. Therefore, if everyone takes offense at everyone else, historical issues rightly raised by Poland will be interpreted in such a way that everything will fall apart. That is simply not good thinking about Polish-Ukrainian relations in the context of the current war, and in five or ten years during Ukraine’s reconstruction.”
Asked about the potential decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, he said: “Responsibility now lies with the president, so there is the Chapter and there is the president. The president must make a decision. For every decision he will either be praised or held accountable. We are waiting.”