Nawrocki proposes stripping Zelenskyy of Order of White Eagle

President of Poland Karol Nawrocki has proposed stripping President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the assignment of a name in honor of the "Heroes of the UPA" to an elite SOF unit.

"I have proposed that one of the points be the deprivation of President Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, if President Zelenskyy has proven that Ukraine, from the point of view of mentality, the glorification of bandits, murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, is not ready to be part of the European family… And it is with great sadness that I accept this," Nawrocki said.

A video with such a statement by Nawrocki was posted on the page of the Chancellery of the President of Poland on Friday.

As reported earlier this day, Poland reacted negatively to the assignment of the name in honor of the "Heroes of the UPA" to an elite SOF unit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland stated that Warsaw assesses this "unequivocally and negatively" and reported that it would raise this issue during negotiations. Polska Agencja Prasowa also quoted Nawrocki on this matter: "The President of Ukraine, by naming a Ukrainian unit after the ‘Heroes of the UPA,’ has provided Russian propaganda with the best material and a significant impetus; I am very critical of this decision."

Zelenskyy on May 27 assigned the honorary name "named after the Heroes of the UPA" to the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the AFU. The presidential decree states that this was done with the aim of restoring the historical traditions of the national military and considering the exemplary performance of assigned tasks during the defense of the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.