Polish PM's office believes President Nawrocki sought to derail recovery conference

Ivanna Kostina, Iryna Balachuk - 24 June, 13:27

Tusk and Zelenskyy. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

The Polish government believes President Karol Nawrocki deliberately stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle shortly before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk.

Source: European Pravda, citing Polish news outlet Onet, which spoke to government representatives

Details: A source in the Polish prime minister's office told Onet that Nawrocki had clearly wanted to provoke tensions in relations with the Ukrainians and cause Zelenskyy to cancel his visit to the conference in Gdańsk. The source added that this was why he had announced the withdrawal of the decoration a week before the conference.

The outlet notes that the Gdańsk conference, scheduled for 25-26 June, has been in planning for several months. Several presidents and PMs as well as official delegations from more than 50 countries are expected to attend. Expected participants include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Council President António Costa and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

Officials in the Polish government say such high-level representation is politically inconvenient for Nawrocki because it contradicts his claims that Prime Minister Donald Tusk is ignored by EU countries and lacks influence over negotiations concerning Ukraine's future.

The source told Onet that throughout the previous week, the Civic Coalition has been dealing with a scandal at Warsaw's Southern Hospital. The source added that on the evening of Friday 19 June Nawrocki suddenly announced – after a two-week delay – that he was stripping Zelenskyy of Poland's highest state decoration, awarded by President Andrzej Duda after the start of the full-scale war. According to the source, this has overshadowed the medical scandal, which they described as a politically illogical move from the right's perspective.

According to a representative of Tusk's office, the problem for Law and Justice (PiS) and Nawrocki is that they failed to block Poland's participation in the EU's SAFE defence financing programme.

The source added that PiS views this as a defeat, as the government could gain politically from SAFE. It said Nawrocki and Jarosław Kaczyński wanted the Gdańsk conference to fail, assuming that agreements on Poland's participation in Ukraine's recovery could be signed there. According to the source, this would again benefit Tusk politically.

Background:

Marcin Przydacz, Head of the International Policy Bureau of the President of Poland, has said that Karol Nawrocki did not receive an invitation to the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will take place in Gdańsk this week.
Polish government spokesperson Adam Szłapka said he is surprised by the discussion about the absence of an invitation for the Polish president, stressing that the conference is being held at the government level.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon to help us keep reporting!