Zelenskyy: Nawrocki is doing what Orbán did. This will end badly
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Polish President Karol Nawrocki escalated the situation surrounding the revocation of his Order of the White Eagle because of internal political struggles. The president also revealed that at their first meeting, Nawrocki gave him a book about the Volyn tragedy.
Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with TSN, a Ukrainian daily news programme
Quote: "I see this purely as an electoral process. President Karol Nawrocki is fighting for his party's premiership against Prime Minister Tusk. It has nothing to do with us – it's an internal matter for them."
Details: Zelenskyy noted that Nawrocki is keeping his internal political battle going by stirring up feelings of hatred towards Ukrainians.
"That's what Orbán did. This is a bad business. I believe it will end badly," the president said.
He stressed that "you can't earn political dividends from hatred, because in the long run it will lead to bad relations between nations".
Zelenskyy also revealed that the first time he met Nawrocki in Poland, Nawrocki gave him a book about the Volyn tragedy. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]
"I'd come to see him, and his gift to me as we shook hands was a book about the Volyn tragedy. I haven't spoken about this. I didn't tell people. I've been living with this calmly. We're talking about it openly now because he is taking steps that I believe are wrong," the president said.
Zelenskyy added that Nawrocki has "a democracy, not a monarchy", so a relationship needs to be built with Ukraine, which is currently defending Europe, including Poland.
Background:
- On the evening of 19 June, Polish President Karol 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.
- Nawrocki explained that he had stripped Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle because Zelenskyy had crossed the Poles' "pain threshold".
- Former Ukrainian presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko announced on 20 June that they were renouncing their Orders of the White Eagle.
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