The office of Polish President Karol Navrocki justified the possession of the Order of the White Eagle by Benito Mussolini, Catherine II, and "Kremlin friend" Gerhard Schroeder by stating that the first two are already deceased, while Schroeder has not committed actions that would prompt the revocation of his award.
A comment regarding the recent events surrounding Poland’s highest award, which was revoked from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was published by Minister of the President’s Chancellery Agnieszka Jendrak on Monday on the X social network in response to his reproaches that Mussolini, Catherine II, and Gerhard Schroeder had not been stripped of the award.
"The first two (Italian dictator Mussolini and Russian Empress Catherine II) died long ago, and Poland does not revoke the order posthumously. As for the former German chancellor, he has never so openly insulted the Polish people as the president of Ukraine did, although his work for Putin’s Russia indeed deserves condemnation as harmful to Poland and Europe. Under Schroeder’s rule in Germany, no monuments were erected in honor of Hitler or Himmler. No Bundeswehr unit was named after ‘SS heroes,’" Jendrak said.
According to her, the Order of the White Eagle is a symbol of gratitude of the Republic of Poland and the highest award granted to distinguished individuals who share a special bond with the country and respect its values. Among the recipients are Saint John Paul II, Generals Wladyslaw Anders and Stanislaw Maczek, Captain Witold Pilecki, Prime Minister Jan Olszewski, and dissident Andrzej Poczobut, as well as numerous foreigners, including statesmen.
"But President Zelenskyy, who now reproaches that Mussolini, Catherine II, and Schroeder were not stripped of the order, did not complain about them having it when he received this award himself three years ago. Furthermore, to the insult of naming a Ukrainian army unit after ‘Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) heroes,’ he adds another by sending the award back via courier," she noted.
In her opinion, the essence of the matter lies "in a deliberate insult by the Ukrainian leader against a nation that over the past four years has proven to be Ukraine’s best friend."
Jendrak believes that "one does not honor the killers of the ancestors of those who helped you when it was a matter of life or death. When someone extends a helping hand to you and you willingly grab it, you do not insult the one helping you afterwards."
"Let’s be frank: President Navrocki rejected the order, not the hand. We support Ukraine, but we will not allow ourselves to be insulted," the minister of Navrocki’s chancellery summarized.
As reported, on June 19, Polish President Navrocki decided to strip President Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle due to the naming of a Ukrainian unit after UPA heroes, stating that Poland will not allow the EU accession of those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence." On June 20, Zelenskyy reported that he had sent the order to Navrocki by mail.
Amid these events, a number of current and former Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian Presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko, announced they would return their Polish awards. The question has also arisen whether Zelenskyy will attend this year’s Ukraine Recovery Conference, scheduled to take place in Gdansk, Poland.
