[75079] Diplomatic crisis: Poland considers stripping Zelensky of the country's highest honor

Diplomatic crisis: Poland considers stripping Zelensky of the country's highest honor

A political storm is brewing in relations between Poland and Ukraine, after the President of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland, Karol Nawrocki, called for stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the "Order of the White Eagle" – the country's highest honor. As reported by Carmel News - חדשות, the call comes following Zelensky's decision to name a Ukrainian special forces unit "Heroes of the UPA," after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

According to Asaf Rozencwaig, news from the big world, Nawrocki harshly criticized the move, calling the glorification of the UPA a step that provides "a great deal of material for disinformation" for Russian propaganda. Nawrocki argued that the decision demonstrates a lack of readiness on the part of Kyiv to join the European Union, especially regarding the "mentality and glorification of bandits and murderers," according to Carmel News.

Behind these events lies the bloody history of the Second World War. According to Carmel News data, UPA units carried out an extermination campaign against the Polish population in Volhynia between 1943–1945, which claimed the lives of about 100,000 people, most of them women and children. Poland officially recognized this massacre as genocide in 2016.

The issue of stripping the honor is expected to be discussed by the "Order of the White Eagle" Council, the advisory body overseeing the decoration, which will convene on June 8. While Nawrocki emphasizes that support for Ukraine remains a strategic goal for Warsaw, he believes that giving modern military units the names of controversial figures from history is inconsistent with the country's values.