According to the analyst, the Polish authorities are trying to devalue an award that actually belongs to all Ukrainians.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy / © Volodymyr Zelenskyy
A high-profile scandal has erupted around Poland’s highest state award, which was previously presented to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Publicist and journalist Vitaliy Portnikov called such decisions absurd and damaging to Warsaw’s own image.
The analyst wrote about this on Facebook.
According to Portnikov, the Polish leadership’s initiative is completely absurd, as this award is a symbol of gratitude to the entire Ukrainian people for resisting Russian aggression.
“The surreal situation begins precisely with the threats of Polish President Karol Nawrocki to deprive President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle. After all, this is not an individual award for a specific person. In Zelenskyy, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, honored all Ukrainians who fought against the Russian onslaught and, moreover, turned their country into a shield for Poland. Yes, it is an honor for the President of Ukraine to receive such an award. But it is an even greater honor for Poland that the president of a country at war with a common enemy agreed to accept it,” emphasized Portnikov.
The journalist is convinced that the attempt to withdraw the order demonstrates Warsaw’s non-recognition of the feat of the Ukrainian people. Such a step, in the opinion of the publicist, harms the reputation of the order itself, not the Ukrainian president.
“And, forgive me, this order is not a matter of Zelenskyy’s prestige, it is a matter of the prestige of the Order of the White Eagle,” the publicist stressed.
Portnikov reminded his Polish colleagues of the deep meaning of this state decoration. He emphasized that by taking the order away from Zelenskyy, the Polish authorities are symbolically taking it away from millions of Ukrainians who are holding back the enemy daily at the cost of their own lives.
“After all, by awarding the Ukrainian president, the President of Poland honored every Ukrainian soldier who will never return home or who continues their struggle for the future of Ukraine and Poland, every Ukrainian woman raising children under shelling, every child studying lessons in an underground school. Isn’t that enough for you, my dear Polish friends? Don’t you want to be a part of this?” the journalist addressed the Polish side.
In conclusion, Portnikov expressed hope that Warsaw will remember the scale and unprecedented nature of its own assistance to Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and will not negate joint achievements due to political ambitions.
“I am sure you do – after all, Polish aid to Ukrainians and Ukraine was unprecedented. And here – an order!” Portnikov concluded.
Ukraine-Poland Scandal over UPA – Latest News
We remind you that the President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, deprived the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of the Order of the White Eagle, the country’s highest state award. The decision was made due to Zelenskyy’s consent to naming one of the Armed Forces units “Heroes of UPA.”
However, Nawrocki emphasized that this step does not mean a change in the strategy of supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia, but is a signal about the inadmissibility of glorifying those who, according to the Poles, were involved in the murder of peaceful Polish civilians.
In response, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sybiga, announced that he is returning the Commander’s Cross with a Star of the Order of Merit to the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Poland. The decision was made in response to the deprivation of President Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle. Sybiga called Warsaw’s move a strategic mistake that only benefits Moscow and stressed that Ukraine will not allow its history and national memory to be dictated.
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