Polish President's office upset after Zelenskyy returns award by delivery service
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy (facebook.com/zelenskyy.official)
In Poland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was criticized for returning the Order of the White Eagle via the Nova Poshta delivery service, and this was called yet another insult, according to Agnieszka Jędrzak, Minister of the Office of the President of Poland.
She points out that when Zelenskyy received the award three years ago, he did not complain about its association with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini or former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
"Moreover, to the insult of naming a Ukrainian army unit after "UPA heroes," he adds another by returning the distinction via courier," the Office notes.
According to the Minister, "The heart of the matter is, after all, the deliberate insult by the Ukrainian leader toward a nation that, over the past four years, has proven to be Ukraine's best friend."
"One does not honor the murderers of the ancestors of those who helped you when it was a matter of life or death. When someone extends a helping hand to you and you eagerly grasp it, you do not then insult the helper," states Jędrzak.
Zelenskyy returned the Order of the White Eagle
On June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
The decision was made after the Ukrainian leader signed a decree granting the 140th Special Purpose Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary name Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
The very next day, on June 20, Zelenskyy returned the award to Warsaw. The Ukrainian President posted a photo from a Nova Poshta delivery service where the order was being shipped.
At the time, he stated: "If it is considered that this special symbol may remain with Catherine II, Benito Mussolini, and Gerhard Schröder, then we in Ukraine will not argue with that."
Following the Polish government's decision, former Ukrainian presidents Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko also declined their Polish awards.
In addition, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, announced that he is declining the Gold Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which was awarded to him last year by the President of Poland.
