Polish President Revokes Zelensky’s Highest Honor, Reigniting WWII Memory Row

On Friday, Poland’s hard‑right President Karol Nawrocki revoked Volodymyr Zelensky’s award of Warsaw’s highest honour, intensifying a dispute between the two neighboring countries concerning World War II memory.

Earlier this month, Zelensky angered Warsaw by designating a military unit after an insurgent force that participated in massacres of Poles during World War II.

Tensions over World War II memory have historically strained relations between Kyiv and Warsaw.

Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest national honour.

He acted despite appeals from Kyiv and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to avoid further escalation, just days before Poland is scheduled to host the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference, with Zelensky’s participation still uncertain.

Nawrocki stated, “Historical truth cannot be used as a bargaining chip; remembering the victims is a moral obligation of the Polish state,” in a recent statement.

He added that Poland had requested that Ukraine reverse its decision regarding the military unit, but Kyiv has not complied.

“In light of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to name a unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces ‘Heroes of the UPA’… I have decided to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from the President of Ukraine,” Nawrocki said.

Ukraine condemned the decision as a strategic mistake that, it argued, would only benefit Moscow.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said he intends to return the award he received from Poland in 2022, calling the decision unjustified, impulsive, and disrespectful.

Tusk Urges That History Not Undermine the Future

From 1943 to 1945, thousands of Polish civilians were killed by UPA Ukrainian nationalist units in the Volhynia region, which had been part of Poland before World War II.

Tusk, whose government is in dispute with Nawrocki, described the naming of the unit as a poor decision, urged calm, and said Zelensky had assured him he had no intention of offending Poles.

He appealed to both nations to preserve the solidarity that emerged between them during the Russian invasion.

Next week, Poland expects several thousand officials and business leaders to gather in the Baltic port city of Gdansk for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, an annual event aimed at promoting investment in Kyiv that Zelensky has traditionally attended.

Tusk declined to give a definitive answer on Friday about Zelensky’s attendance, but expressed hope that the dispute would not undermine the extensive preparations Poland is making for the conference.

Hours before the decision, Poland’s foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wiewor told AFP that “what unites us is the future and ensuring both Ukraine and Poland are safe; that is our priority today.”

The Ukraine Recovery Conference, a two‑day event, is set to launch in Gdansk — Tusk’s hometown — next Thursday.

Poland has framed the conference — previously hosted in Rome, Berlin, London and Switzerland’s Lugano — as a major economic and political achievement, having prepared it for weeks.

Zelensky has not yet issued a public comment on Poland’s decision.

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