"The front line runs elsewhere": Polish PM Tusk urges Poland and Ukraine not to escalate dispute
It is worth noting that under the Polish Constitution, if the prime minister does not countersign the president's decision to revoke the Order of the White Eagle, it does not acquire legal force.
Reaction of Polish politicians to Nawrocki's decision
Nawrocki's decision, announced on Friday evening, also drew reactions from other Polish politicians.
Representatives of the centre-left and liberal camp mostly pointed to the potential negative consequences of such a move and stressed that it benefits Russia.
At the same time, politicians from opposition conservative and nationalist parties largely supported the president's decision.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, in a sarcastic comment reading "You have support, President Nawrocki," shared a post by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, who positively assessed the decision to strip Zelenskyi of the award.
Similar statements were made by other members of the Polish government, including Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński and government spokesperson Adam Szłapka. The latter wrote:
"The first congratulations are flowing into the Office of President Nawrocki. This is exactly what the Kremlin wants."
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia stated on X that Germany could be the biggest beneficiary of the decision and also raised concerns about its potential impact on the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference, scheduled to take place in Gdańsk on June 25–26.
"Nawrocki's decision in defense of Polish history, memory, and symbols will most gladden the Germans. Who, as a result of the latest escalation in PL-UA relations, will take over even more contracts for Ukraine's reconstruction. We'll probably find out soon whether President Zelenskyi, who was supposed to come to Gdańsk, suddenly has nothing come up. The sentiments among business and parliamentarians (the conference is accompanied by a parliamentary summit) will certainly favor planning cooperation and looking together toward the future. ," Hołownia wrote.
At the same time, representatives of the opposition expressed support for the president's decision. Przemysław Czarnek, the Law and Justice (PiS) party's candidate for prime minister, thanked Nawrocki for the move in a post on X.
One of the leaders of the nationalist Confederation party, Sławomir Mentzen, also reacted positively to the president's decision. He wrote that Nawrocki had finally stripped Zelenskyi of the Order of the White Eagle, although, in his view, the move came too late.
Amid the debate, Poland's Institute of National Remembrance announced on X that it would begin publishing a series of posts next week titled "Ukrainian Nationalism: Between Ideology and Crime."
As previously reported, on June 19, Polish President Karol Nawrocki decided to revoke Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's Order of the White Eagle following the decision to grant one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces units the honorary designation "Heroes of the UPA."
The controversy emerged against the backdrop of growing tensions in Polish-Ukrainian relations. The immediate trigger was Warsaw's reaction to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's decision to award one of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces units the honorary title "named after the Heroes of the UPA." In Poland, the decision was condemned by those who associate the UPA with crimes committed against the Polish population.
At the same time, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi stated that the history of the Polish and Ukrainian peoples contains both glorious and tragic chapters, but that honoring the heroes of the UPA carried no anti-Polish message. He stressed that discussions about the past should be professional and based on reliable sources, adding that history has repeatedly shown that only Moscow benefits from disputes between Ukrainians and Poles.
Meanwhile, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski stated that any decision to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi of the Order of the White Eagle would have serious implications for Poland's foreign policy.
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21 of June 2026
