Andriy Sybiga Returns Poland's State Award After Volodymyr Zelenskyy Was Stripped of the Order of the White Eagle
Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiga refused the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order "For Merit to Poland."
He stated that he will return the state award to Poland following the decision of Polish President Karol Nawrocki to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
"The decision to deprive the President of Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle is a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, from which only Moscow will benefit," Sybiga noted.
According to the minister, the Ukrainian side regrets that "emotions prevailed in Warsaw" and led to "unjustified, impulsive, and disrespectful steps" towards Ukraine.
In this regard, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that he does not consider it possible to keep the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order "For Merit to Poland" awarded to him in October 2022. "I will return it to Poland soon," he emphasized.
Sybiga also stated that Kyiv has always advocated mutual respect even in difficult historical issues and has worked over the past one and a half years to resolve disagreements between the two countries. According to him, Ukraine facilitated search and exhumation work, the restoration of the Congress of Historians, and the implementation of other initiatives important to the Polish side.
The minister called the current escalation in relations counterproductive and expressed hope for a return to equal dialogue between Kyiv and Warsaw.
"No president of another country will dictate our history to us," Sybiga stressed.
Earlier, Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced the stripping of Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — Poland's highest state award. The Polish presidential office stated that the decision is related to the state of Polish-Ukrainian relations.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy received the Order of the White Eagle on April 5, 2023, from then Polish President Andrzej Duda for his contribution to strengthening Polish-Ukrainian partnership and cooperation between the two states.
On the eve, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a deterioration in relations between Warsaw and Kyiv due to the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after Ukrainian Insurgent Army heroes and called on the presidents of Ukraine and Poland for frank dialogue.
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