The Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle has addressed the issue of revoking the decoration awarded to Volodymyr Zelensky. This follows the controversy sparked by the Ukrainian president’s decision to name one of the country’s military units after the “Heroes of the UPA.” “The president will make a decision at the appropriate time,” said Rafał Leśkiewicz, spokesman for the head of state.
Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle submits its opinion to the president
After the president of Ukraine announced in late May that he had named one of his country’s military units after the “Heroes of the UPA,” a meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle was convened for Monday to address, among other matters, President Nawrocki’s proposal to revoke Zelensky’s Order.
“The Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle met today regarding the Order awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Chapter presented its opinion to the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who took part in the deliberations,” Leśkiewicz wrote on X on Monday evening. He added that the president would make a decision “at the appropriate time.”
UPA controversy puts Zelensky’s Polish state honour under scrutiny
Zelensky was awarded the Order of the White Eagle in April 2023 by then-president Andrzej Duda “in recognition of his outstanding services in deepening friendly and comprehensive relations between Poland and Ukraine, for developing cooperation in support of democracy, peace and security in Europe, and for his steadfastness in defending inalienable human rights.”
In late May, the president of Ukraine announced that he had named the Independent Special Operations Center “North” of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the “Heroes of the UPA.” The decision triggered a wave of criticism in Poland.
President Nawrocki, expressing outrage over the Ukrainian president’s decision, proposed at the time that one of the items on the agenda of the Chapter’s meeting, convened for June 8, should be the revocation of Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki stated then, among other things, that “the glorification of the UPA is something that has given Russian propaganda a great deal of oxygen for disinformation.”
In connection with the tense situation, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Kyrylo Budanov, was in Warsaw on Friday and Saturday, where he held talks with, among others, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, presidential minister Marcin Przydacz, head of the National Security Bureau Bartosz Grodecki, and Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki.
After the meeting with Budanov, the head of the president’s International Policy Bureau said that the Ukrainian side had indicated it was aware of the reactions that the subject of the UPA provokes in Poland and was interested in dialogue on the matter. Przydacz declared readiness for further talks and pointed to expectations on the Polish side. Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór, in turn, said that one of the topics of Budanov’s conversation with Deputy Minister Bosacki was Ukrainian proposals for resolving the situation.
The Order of the White Eagle is Poland’s oldest and most important state order. 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 an initiative to the president to award or revoke the order.