White Eagle Order scandal: Poland explains its position on Zelenskyy, Mussolini and Schröder
Poland has stated that the Order of the White Eagle is not revoked posthumously, so the award remains with Benito Mussolini and Catherine II. As for former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, he has not committed any acts that would warrant the revocation of his award.
According to Censor.NET, this was stated by Agnieszka Jędrzak, Minister of the President’s Office of Poland.
"The first two (the Italian dictator Mussolini and the Russian Empress Catherine II) have long since passed away, and Poland does not revoke orders posthumously. And the former German chancellor never insulted the Polish nation as openly as the President of Ukraine has done, although his work on behalf of putin’s Russia does indeed deserve condemnation as something that harms Poland and Europe.
During Schröder’s time in office, no monuments to Hitler or Himmler were erected in Germany, and no unit of the Bundeswehr was named after ‘SS heroes’, the post states.
Jędrzak noted that Zelenskyy was not bothered by the fact that these figures held the Order of the White Eagle when he received his award.
"And he is adding insult to injury by returning it via post. At the heart of the matter is the fact that the Ukrainian leader deliberately insulted people who, over the past four years, have proven themselves to be Ukraine’s best friends. It is not right to honour the murderers of the ancestors of those who helped you when it was a matter of life and death," the minister emphasised.
She added that Karol Nawrocki "withdrew the award, but did not reject the outstretched hand".
"We support Ukraine, but we will not allow ourselves to be insulted," concluded Jędrzak.
What led up to this?
Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle, amid a scandal over the naming of an elite unit of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces after the Heroes of the UPA.
In response, a number of Ukrainian officials issued statements:
- Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha declined the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order "For Merit to Poland" in response to Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest honour, the Order of the White Eagle;
- The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, has declined the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland;
- Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland, also announced that he was returning his Polish award following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stripping of the Order of the White Eagle.
- On 20 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent the Order of the White Eagle to Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
- The second President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, the third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, and the fifth President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, also announced that they were declining the Polish Order of the White Eagle.
