Poland’s prime minister urged for unity and direct discussions between Warsaw and Kyiv on Monday following a diplomatic crisis sparked by Ukraine’s decision to name a military unit after World War Two nationalist fighters responsible for killing Polish civilians.
The controversy began last month when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy renamed an army unit to honor the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which was active during the 1939-45 conflict.
This disagreement has pushed relations between Ukraine and one of its most reliable allies since Russia’s 2022 invasion to a troubling point, coming as Kyiv works to strengthen backing for its European Union membership aspirations.
On Monday, a Polish advisory committee convened to consider a recommendation from Polish President Karol Nawrocki to revoke Zelenskiy’s Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s most prestigious honor.
Tusk advocated for face-to-face discussions between Nawrocki and Zelenskiy.
“Since diplomacy has yielded no results, I publicly appeal to Presidents @NawrockiKn and @ZelenskyyUa for a direct and honest conversation,” Tusk, a political opponent of Nawrocki, wrote on X.
“Before emotions destroy our solidarity, which was born in the face of the Russian threat. Cooperation is in the interest of both our states and nations, and conflict is in the interest of Moscow.”
Should Nawrocki choose to remove Zelenskiy’s honor, Tusk’s approval would probably be required for the action to take place, though legal scholars disagree on this point.
Polish public opinion regarding Ukraine has grown increasingly critical due to exhaustion from hosting large numbers of war refugees, disagreements over grain trade, and the historical memory of World War Two killings of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists.
Former President Andrzej Duda presented Zelenskiy with the Order of the White Eagle in 2023, but Nawrocki announced in May that an advisory panel should consider removing the honor because of the unit renaming decision.
Certain Ukrainians view the UPA as freedom fighters for their opposition to both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
However, the UPA participated in the Volhynia massacres, a sequence of attacks between 1943 and 1945 during which Poland reports approximately 100,000 Poles were murdered by Ukrainian nationalists. Thousands of Ukrainians also perished in revenge attacks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has stated the designation was selected by soldiers wanting to honor the UPA’s resistance against Moscow and who had no desire to insult Poland.
