Polish President Karol Nawrocki has stripped Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle, a decision announced Friday. The revocation stems from Zelenskyy’s decree naming a military unit of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), an organization accused by Poland of massacring Poles during World War II. This state-level dispute emerges as Poland is scheduled to host a major event on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend.
Zelenskyy issued the decree this year on May 26, stating the designation was meant to "restore the historical traditions of the national military" and recognize the unit’s performance in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence. The UPA, which operated during the 1940s and 1950s, fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi Germany and Soviet forces. However, it has been accused in Poland of mass killings, specifically of tens of thousands of Poles, mostly in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. The Polish Parliament recognized the crimes committed by UPA as genocide in 2016, marking the tenth anniversary of that declaration.
Ukrainian officials swiftly condemned Nawrocki’s decision. Ukrainian Presidential Office chief Kyrylo Budanov wrote on Telegram that the move was an "unfriendly act toward our people and a gift to the Moscow aggressor, which will certainly use it against both of our countries." Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the step a "strategic mistake by the President of Poland, one that benefits only Moscow." Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, stated the decision was "especially painful as Ukrainians battle missile and drone attacks." In response, Budanov, Sybiha, Bodnar, and Budanov’s deputy, Ihor Zhovkva, announced their intention to return state honors that Poland had issued them. Former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk wrote on X Saturday that "one harmful and incorrect decision by the current president of Poland cannot be corrected by other incorrect decisions of ours."
Former Polish President Andrzej Duda had bestowed the Order of the White Eagle on Zelenskyy in 2023, the third anniversary of the award, for "services to security, resilience and the defense of human rights." This liberal justification for geopolitical alignment is now overshadowed by the resurfacing of historical grievances, revealing the fragility of such symbolic gestures when confronted with nationalist narratives.
Historical Narratives and State Power
President Nawrocki, in a 13-minute address on social media, stated that for the majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army "remains above all a formation responsible for cruel crimes against the citizens of the Polish Republic during World War II." He asserted that the decision to revoke the honor would not decrease Poland’s support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Ukrainian accounts, however, state that "armed formations on both sides, including the UPA and Polish underground forces, were involved in attacks and reprisals that led to large-scale civilian casualties among Poles and Ukrainians." The bourgeois state, through its leaders, actively shapes and weaponizes historical memory to serve current political objectives, often at the expense of genuine reconciliation.
This escalation in diplomatic tensions over historical memory comes despite recent efforts towards reconciliation. A December meeting this year between the two presidents in Warsaw had "signaled progress on historical reconciliation," and the nations had recently made progress on the issue of exhumation of Polish victims. The current dispute demonstrates how quickly such progress can be undone when ruling class interests prioritize nationalist posturing.
Managing Contradictions for Capital
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, publicly urged the two leaders to "tone down emotions, not stoke tensions." Tusk wrote on social media Friday night that "the front line runs elsewhere," adding that the "conflict between Poland and Ukraine delights Putin and shocks our allies." Tusk's intervention reflects the bourgeois state's attempt to manage internal contradictions and maintain a united front for geopolitical objectives, particularly as Poland prepares to host the "major event on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week."
This upcoming event, which Zelenskyy is expected to attend, represents a significant opportunity for capital accumulation in the rebuilding of Ukraine. The current historical dispute threatens to disrupt the smooth flow of future capital investment and the strategic alignment necessary for such projects. The public exchange of honors and condemnations, while appearing to be about historical justice, ultimately serves to reinforce nationalist divisions, diverting attention from the shared material conditions of the working classes in both nations. Ruling elites engage in these symbolic gestures, using the state apparatus to further their own political and economic agendas, while the potential for collective action by the dispossessed is undermined by manufactured national antagonisms.