Polish president's office explains why Zelenskyy has not yet been stripped of Order of the White Eagle

Polish President Karol Nawrocki is not rushing to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, as he expects Ukraine to correct its "mistake" regarding the naming of a Special Operations Forces (SOF) unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Source: presidential spokesperson Rafał Leśkiewicz in an interview with TV Republika, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Leśkiewicz said Poland cannot accept Ukraine's decision to name an SOF unit in honour of Ukrainian Insurgent Army heroes, but Warsaw will pause before deciding whether to revoke the Order of the White Eagle awarded to the Ukrainian president.

"We will wait a little longer to see whether President Zelenskyy revises his decision. We cannot accept this situation," the spokesperson said, adding that "diplomacy prefers silence".

He said Nawrocki has not yet made a decision and will not do so before he visits the United States.

He also noted that no conversation has yet taken place between Nawrocki and Zelenskyy.

For reference: The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland believes that the UPA was responsible for what it considers the genocide of Poles during the Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy, a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943. The tragedy was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west.

Background:

• On 8 June, a meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle took place in Poland, where one of the topics discussed was President Karol Nawrocki's proposal to strip his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of the award.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes that Zelenskyy did not intend to offend Poland by assigning the name "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" to the Ukrainian unit; however, in Tusk's view, the Ukrainian side lacks sensitivity in this matter.

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