Ukrainian foreign minister will return Polish state award after Poland strips Zelenskyy of top honour

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said he will return a high Polish state award following Polish President Karol Nawrocki's decision to strip President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.

Source: Sybiha on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sybiha described Nawrocki's move as a strategic mistake by the Polish president that would benefit only Moscow.

Quote: "We regret that emotions have prevailed in Warsaw and prompted Polish politicians to take unjustified, impulsive and disrespectful steps directed not even against President Zelenskyy, but first and foremost against the Ukrainian state. In light of such reckless actions, I see no possibility of continuing to hold the high state award of the Republic of Poland bestowed upon me in October 2022 – the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. I will return it to Poland shortly."

Details: Sybiha said the issue was not about decorations but about attitude, stressing that Ukraine has always advocated an approach based on mutual respect, even when dealing with difficult and sensitive issues.

Quote: "This means respecting each other's decisions even when we disagree with them. 'Agreeing to disagree', as the saying goes. We never wanted this conflict. Instead, for a year and a half we have been actively working to resolve disagreements, depoliticise historical issues, unblock professional and academic cooperation, facilitate search and exhumation work and reburials at Poland's request, and resume the work of the Congress of Historians. We have achieved a great deal along this path. Search operations are currently under way in Huta Pieniacka, as requested by the Polish side."

Details: The minister added that, against this backdrop, the current escalation is counterproductive and unnecessary for both Ukrainians and Poles.

"We regret that instead of seeking solutions, the Polish side chose to escalate the situation to an unacceptable and disproportionate level. No president of another country will dictate our history to us," Sybiha stated.

He expressed the hope that cooler heads would eventually prevail and that Poland's friends would return to an equal dialogue befitting the allied relationship between the two countries in the face of a common enemy in Moscow.

Background:

• On 19 June, Nawrocki decided to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle over the decision to grant one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' units the honorary designation "named after the Heroes of the UPA".
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Zelenskyy had not intended to offend Poland by the decision, but that in Tusk's view, the Ukrainian side lacks sensitivity on the matter.

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