Nawrocki criticised Budanov for his comments about ’escalation’ ahead of anniversary of Volyn tragedy
Bartosz Grodecki, Head of the National Security Bureau of Poland, has described as "irresponsible" the statements made by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, to the effect that Warsaw is preparing a "series of escalatory measures" ahead of 11 July – the anniversary of the Volyn tragedy.
This was reported by the Polsat News television channel, according to Censor.NET.
Poland’s reaction
Grodecki stated that such remarks by Budanov "demonstrate a shifting of responsibility onto the Polish side". He noted that he sees "escalatory moves" coming specifically from the Ukrainian side.
The head of the Polish National Security Bureau also claimed that, during his meeting with Budanov in June, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine "was not quite so principled".
"I consider this to be irresponsible and entirely unnecessary from the perspective of Polish-Ukrainian relations. If Budanov makes such a claim, he is deeply mistaken. If Ukraine has no other heroes and wishes to build its myth on this, then it is simply making a strategic mistake. That is our view; Budanov has been informed of this, and President Zelenskyy is also aware of it", added Grodecki.
As a reminder, on 7 July, the head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine that Poland was preparing "a whole series of ill-considered escalatory measures" ahead of 11 July, when the country marks the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Volyn Tragedy.
What led up to it?
- Tensions in Ukrainian-Polish relations flared up after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on 26 May conferring the honorary title ‘in the name of the Heroes of the UPA’ on the ‘North’ Special Operations Centre of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The text of the document stated that the decision had been taken with the aim of "restoring the historical traditions of the national army".
- On 29 May, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced his intention to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle – Poland’s highest honour, which had been awarded to him in 2023 by the then Polish President Andrzej Duda.
- Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, ostentatiously removed the badge featuring the Ukrainian flag that he always wore as a sign of protest, and accused Zelenskyy of "honouring UPA bandits", which, he said, "offended him personally and all the Poles who were killed".
- Bartosz Cichocki, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Ukraine, has, as a result of this same decision, officially returned the Order "For Merit", which Zelenskyy had awarded him in 2022.
- Marcin Przydacz, Head of the International Policy Bureau at the Office of the President of Poland, stated that Volodymyr Zelenskyy should personally telephone his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki and formally apologise for naming a Special Operations Forces unit ‘after the Heroes of the UPA’.
- Subsequently, the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, stripped the President of Ukraine, 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.
