While in the early stages of the full-scale war we had no choice — we helped Ukraine and called for support for Ukraine in Poland’s own interest, so that Russian tanks would not end up in Dorohusk and other locations along our border — over time all of this should have been reassessed. The baseline conditions for cooperation are: abandoning the glorification of Bandera in Ukraine, revoking the decision to name a military unit after UPA heroes, granting immediate consent for all exhumations of murdered Poles, and signing specific contracts with Polish companies for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
At the end of May, Zelenskyy granted one of Ukraine’s armed forces units the honorary name “Heroes of the UPA.” He stated that he did so “to restore the historical traditions of the national army and in recognition of the exemplary fulfillment of assigned tasks in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.”
The decision was met with criticism from Polish politicians. President Karol Nawrocki said he was outraged, arguing that the Ukrainian president’s decision provides “the best material and plenty of oxygen for Russian propaganda.” He also announced that on Monday, June 8, the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle would convene. According to Nawrocki, he proposed that one of the agenda items should be stripping President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk initially criticized President Nawrocki’s declaration, but according to Czarnek, changed his position dramatically a few days later.
“He has always shown that he is guided by opinion polls. Even during difficult times for Poland, when he headed his first government from 2007 to 2014, all decisions — including personnel decisions — were preceded by public opinion research. He sees that Poles rightly do not accept what he described as the rude, foolish, and anti-Polish behavior of Mr. Zelenskyy. So he changes his position as well; that is not the behavior of a leader. He should have condemned it long ago, because Zelenskyy’s conduct has gone beyond the bounds of decency — not only now, when it has reached its peak, but earlier as well. He has made poor decisions and shown a lack of willingness to cooperate with Poland,” said Przemysław Czarnek in an interview with TV Republika.
The MP acknowledged that Poland’s current policy toward Ukraine “is not passing the test.”
“While in the early stages of the full-scale war we had no choice — we helped Ukraine and called for support for Ukraine in Poland’s own interest, so that Russian tanks would not end up in Dorohusk and other places along the border — over time all of this should have been reassessed. The baseline conditions for cooperation are: abandoning the glorification of Bandera in Ukraine, revoking the decision to name a military unit after UPA heroes, granting immediate consent for all exhumations of murdered Poles, and signing specific contracts with Polish companies for the reconstruction of Ukraine. These are the baseline conditions for continued Polish assistance to Ukraine and for the Ukrainian authorities’ continued use of facilities such as the airport in Jasionka,” Czarnek said.
He added that once the political right returns to power in Poland, it will establish such baseline conditions and introduce legislation banning the promotion of Bandera ideology.