e most high-profile development in Poland over the past two weeks has been an initiative by President Karol Nawrocki to consider revoking the Order of the White Eagle — Poland’s highest state decoration — awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by former Polish President Andrzej Duda in April 2023.
Nawrocki justified the move by citing President Zelensky’s decision to bestow upon one of the Special Operations Forces units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary designation “named after the Heroes of the UPA” (Ukrainian Insurgent Army).
Following a June 8 meeting of the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle, which was expected to issue its position on the matter, the Polish presidential office announced that Nawrocki would make a decision “at the appropriate time.”
In an interview with Ukrinform, former Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz discussed Nawrocki’s initiative, the significance of the Polish side’s statement that a decision would be made “at the appropriate time,” the impact of the controversy on Ukrainian-Polish relations and the broader international environment, and the steps that should be taken under the current circumstances.
WAR IS NO TIME FOR HISTORICAL DISPUTES
