Ukraine's second president renounces Polish Order of White Eagle – photo
Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's second president, has decided to give up the Order of the White Eagle after Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the award.
Source: Kuchma's statement, circulated by the press secretary of his foundation, Darka Olifer
Quote: "In connection with the decision of Polish President Karol Nawrocki to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Polish Order of the White Eagle, I have decided to renounce this order, with which I had the honour of being awarded in 1997."
Details: Kuchma noted that throughout his entire presidency, he considered building friendly relations with Poland one of his key priorities.
"Together with my counterpart Aleksander Kwaśniewski, we made maximum efforts to achieve this. We paid particular attention to resolving historical issues in relations between our peoples, which resulted in our joint 2003 statement on reconciliation. Forgive and ask for forgiveness – this principle was developed by President Kwaśniewski and me under the spiritual mediation of the great Pole, Pope John Paul II," the second president of Ukraine said.
As he added, over the decades, this principle worked, and genuine friendship between Ukraine and Poland became a reality. This was confirmed by the invaluable assistance Poland provided to Ukraine from the first hours of Russia's full-scale invasion.
"And I am convinced that the current unfriendly step by President Nawrocki cannot undo all of this. But today I have no other choice but to renounce the high Polish order. Not for Ukraine to have accepted the fight against Russia, which justified its invasion with historical claims, for other countries to now dictate our history and decide whom we should honour," Kuchma stated.
He expressed confidence that friendly and allied relations between Ukraine and Poland would be preserved, but stressed that today he feels sadness and concern.
"One thing is when an enemy attacks. Quite another is when enmity drives friends apart. And even worse is when those friends are also facing a common threat. We must remember history. However, the past cannot be more important than the future," Kuchma said.
All presidents of independent Ukraine, except the pro-Russian fourth president Viktor Yanukovych, were awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest state decoration.
Background:
- On the evening of 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki decided to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, and stated that Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
- Following this move, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, and Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov announced that they would return the Polish state awards they had received.
- On 20 June, Zelenskyy said he had sent the order back to Karol Nawrocki by post.
- On 20 June, Nawrocki explained that he had stripped Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle because the latter had crossed the Poles' "pain threshold".
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