Nawrocki’s office issues ultimatum to Zelenskyy to preserve order: Ukraine must take a step back
The entourage of Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said that the procedure to strip Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle will be completed "sooner rather than later" if Ukraine does not officially cancel the decision to name a military unit after the "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA)."
This was stated by Marcin Przydacz, head of the International Policy Bureau at the Polish President’s Office, Censor.NET reports, citing RMF24.
"Glorification of bandits": position of the Polish President’s Office
Responding to journalists’ questions about the timeframe for a final decision on annulling Zelenskyy’s Order of the White Eagle, Przydacz made it clear that the Polish side would make no compromises on issues of historical memory.
The head of the presidential bureau once again repeated the thesis regarding the symbolism of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"It must be stressed once again that the decision of the Ukrainian side to award military units the title of ‘Heroes of the UIA,’ and in fact bandits under the UIA flag, is unacceptable in Poland. This caused widespread outrage. Hence, the announcement of specific steps by Mr. President. Many Poles feel a certain justified anger and disappointment that, after everything Poland has done for Ukrainians over the past years, it is facing precisely such a decision by President Zelenskyy," Przydacz said.
Ultimatum regarding the order
The Polish official stressed that the "ball is now in Ukraine’s court." Kyiv was made to understand that the absence of "real actions and gestures" in the coming days would automatically trigger the mechanism for revoking the Republic of Poland’s highest award.
According to Przydacz, Nawrocki’s ultimatum is a "fair approach" that leaves a window for dialogue, but this time is rapidly running out.
Therefore, Ukraine must officially cancel the order naming a unit of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the Heroes of the UIA. If there is no positive reaction from Kyiv, Nawrocki will sign a decree stripping Zelenskyy of the award "sooner rather than later," the official claims.
"The Ukrainian side has time to properly analyze what value relations with Poland have for it. It knows perfectly well what needs to be done to improve these relations. We have given a time window so that the Ukrainian side can take a step back. We hope this will happen. If it does not happen, we will take further decisions. Everything the president is doing is in line with the outlined scenario. The coming days will show concrete actions," Marcin Przydacz concluded.
The scandal over the unit named after the Heroes of the UIA
- The escalation in Ukrainian-Polish relations broke out after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on May 26 granting the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine's Armed Forces the honorary title "named after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA)." The text of the document stated that the decision was made to "restore the historical traditions of the national army."
- On May 29, President of Poland Karol Nawrocki announced his intention to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland's highest award, which was presented to him in 2023 by then-Polish President Andrzej Duda.
- Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa demonstratively removed a badge with the Ukrainian flag, which he had constantly worn, in protest and accused Zelenskyy of "honoring UIA bandits," which, he said, "insulted him personally and all murdered Poles."
- Former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Ukraine Bartosz Cichocki officially returned the Order of Merit awarded to him by Zelenskyy in 2022 over the same decision.
- Head of the International Policy Bureau at the Polish president's office, Marcin Przydacz, said Volodymyr Zelenskyy should personally call his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki and formally apologize for giving the SOF unit the name "Heroes of the UIA."
