Poland presses Ukraine to reverse UPA unit honor as wartime tensions deepen
Poland criticizes Zelenskyy’s decision to name military unit after UPA Heroes (Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki)
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Poland is
holding quiet talks with Kyiv over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s
decision to assign one of Ukraine’s Armed Forces units the honorary name of the
Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA.
Sikorski made the remarks during a meeting with residents of
Tarnogród on June 2, Polsat
News reported.
He said Poland hopes Ukraine will find “a way to correct
this mistake.”
Sikorski said “history is complicated and not every country
has to honor the same heroes, but there are limits.”
“I would expect the Ukrainian side to take our sensitivities
into account. For them, the UPA is associated with resistance against Soviet
rule, while for us, it means Volhynia,” Poland’s foreign minister said.
Sikorski said Poland has the right to express disappointment
and demand changes, but must not allow Russian propaganda and disinformation to
set the two countries against each other, “because both Ukraine and Poland
would lose from that.”
Disputes between Ukraine and Poland
On May 26, Zelenskyy signed Decree No. 440/2026
granting the Separate Special Operations Center North of the Special Operations
Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces the honorary name of the Heroes of the UPA.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki later proposed stripping
Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor,
which Zelenskyy received in April 2023 from Nawrocki’s predecessor, Andrzej
Duda.
Former Polish President Lech Wałęsa said he had removed the
Ukrainian flag pin from his lapel and would no longer support President
Zelenskyy, while continuing to help the Ukrainian people.
On June 1, former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Bartosz
Cichocki said he had returned the Order of Merit he received from Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022.
On June 2, former Polish President Andrzej Duda said
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had received the Order of the White Eagle “under
different circumstances.” He also claimed that since then, “the circumstances
have changed,” as has “the behavior of the Ukrainian president.”
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