Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki says he will ask the body responsible for Poland’s Order of the White Eagle to consider revoking the honour awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Nawrocki’s proposal follows Ukraine’s decision to rename a military unit after figures associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a WWII-era nationalist movement that carried out attacks against Poles. Polish officials and some public commentators describe this as a provocation that reopens unresolved disputes over how history is remembered and commemorated in Poland and Ukraine.
The move is presented across reports as prompting “outrage” or renewed anger in Poland, despite Poland’s stated support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. The reports say Nawrocki frames the decision as a matter for the relevant state honor-chapter or review process, rather than an immediate cancellation. Ukraine’s action and Poland’s historical objections are at the center of the dispute, with Zelensky caught in the broader disagreement between the two countries over the legacy of WWII-era nationalist groups.
