Former Polish MP returns award to president in protest – photos

Former Polish Sejm member Piotr Vogler has returned a state award to President Karol Nawrocki in protest against the decision to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.

Source: Vogler on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: "Symbolically, I am returning my award to this president as a sign of protest against the absurd decision to strip the president of Ukraine – a Ukraine that is fighting – of the order," Vogler wrote.

He said the gesture is not directed at the president who originally presented him with the award, but specifically at Nawrocki, "who is increasingly making a mockery of Poland and all of us".

Quote: "What this man, who is called president, has done and continues to do is a nightmare. For me, he is not the president of my country but merely a mistake, and I am still waiting for the National Electoral Commission to recount the votes... because to this day I do not know the final results of that election."

Background:

• On the evening of 19 June, Nawrocki took the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He said Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
• Following this, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, and Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov announced that they would be returning the Polish state awards they had received.
• On 20 June, Zelenskyy said he had sent the order back to Nawrocki by post.
• All Ukrainian presidents who have been awarded the Polish Order of the White Eagle have subsequently renounced it.

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