Poland explains why order remains with Mussolini and Schröder but is taken from Zelenskyy

Relations between Poland and Ukraine have seen new tensions after Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The reason was Zelenskyy's decision to honor a World War II unit linked to the massacre of Polish civilians. Returning the order by mail, Zelenskyy noted that it remains with figures such as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Russian Empress Catherine II, and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

In response, Deputy Head of the Polish President's Chancellery Agnieszka Jedzaka stated on social media platform X that Catherine II and Mussolini are dead, and orders are not revoked posthumously. Regarding Schröder, she emphasized that during his tenure, no monuments to Hitler or Himmler were erected in Germany, and no Bundeswehr units were named after SS heroes. She also added that Zelenskyy had not previously been troubled by the fact that these individuals had received the order.

Jedzaka believes that Zelenskyy's action of sending the order by mail was a deliberate insult to the Polish nation, which has been Ukraine's best friend in recent years. She stressed that Poland will continue to support Ukraine but will not allow itself to be insulted. Following Nawrocki's decision, several high-ranking Ukrainian politicians have renounced their awards, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the conflict a "strategic mistake."