Poroshenko Refuses Poland's Highest Honor; Tensions Between Kyiv and Warsaw Escalate

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on Saturday that he is refusing the Polish White Eagle Order, following Polish President Andrzej Duda's (note: source says Karol Navrocki, but actual Polish president is Duda? Wait, source says "Karola Navrocka" - but that's the name in the article. I'll keep it as in source: Karol Navrocki) decision to strip the same award from current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Poroshenko made his statement on Facebook.

Poroshenko emphasized that the order was not granted personally to him or Zelensky, but to the Ukrainian people and soldiers defending Ukraine, Poland, and all of Europe. He noted that he had warned colleagues at a reconciliation council two weeks ago that he would take this step if they failed to convince Navrocki to reverse his decision. Poroshenko added that this move is not directed against the Polish people, but is a response to the Polish president's actions.

He also stressed that any crisis between Ukraine and Poland is not just a diplomatic issue but a security concern due to Russian aggression. "Now it is important not to deepen the conflict but to end it," Poroshenko said.

Zelensky, meanwhile, announced on Saturday that he had returned the order to the Polish president. He remarked ironically that if such a symbol can remain with figures like Catherine II, Benito Mussolini, and Gerhard Schröder, then Ukraine will not argue about it. Zelensky thanked the Polish people for their support.

In addition to Poroshenko and Zelensky, several other Ukrainian officials have refused the White Eagle Order: Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, head of the presidential office Kyrylo Budanov, ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bondar, former Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, and former presidents Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko. Thus, all former Ukrainian presidents who had received the order have now renounced it.

The dispute originates from Zelensky's decision on May 26 to name a unit of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces after "UPA heroes." The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is revered in Ukraine for its role in the fight for independence, but in Poland it is associated with the Volhynia massacre – the mass killing of Polish civilians between 1943 and 1945. An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 Poles were killed, and retaliatory violence claimed several thousand Ukrainian lives. This issue has long been a source of tension in Ukrainian-Polish relations.