Zelensky condemned his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki for revoking the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest honor, in an interview with local media over the weekend despite dishonestly omitting to mention that this was done due to him glorifying the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits at the state level. What follows is a point-by-point critical analysis of what he said on this subject per YouTube’s automated translation feature that’ll then conclude with some final reflections on his harsh words:
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* “If you are not a partner, not a friend, then who are you? Then all this (tension) turns over the years, the decades, into what we have with the Russians. Disrespect, aggression, radicalization of society, what Orban did, absolutely wrongly placing the military on his border, bringing it closer to ours. Why were these signals (sent)? Why are you doing this? Radicalizing society. Hatred in society will lead to what? To ratings. This is a political struggle that can end badly. A very bad escalation.”
– Zelensky’s comparison of Nawrocki to Orban is a threat when recalling how he earlier hinted at sending Ukrainian troops to Orban’s address, which Vance condemned just like he condemned Ukrainian meddling in the Hungarian elections that might now target Poland’s fall 2027 ones. Poland is also beefing up its border security via “Project Trident”, which Zelensky might deem a threat. Implying that Poland will follow Russia’s path under Nawrocki also implies that their post-conflict competition will turn violent.
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* “We are defending Poland. We are defending Europe. Now it’s not the other way around.”
– Poland can defend itself, and it was Poland’s massive military aid early on that helped Ukraine survive.
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* “When [Ukrainian troops] chose a name for themselves, they chose this one. I signed such decrees during the war. I never gave our fighters their name, I didn’t say what I liked or didn’t like. I have never changed such decrees and have never canceled them. As the president, I must support them.”
– Zelensky is passing the buck by blaming ultra-nationalist troops for this dispute, which is meant to further radicalize them against Poland by misportraying Nawrocki’s revocation of his country’s highest honor as a deliberate insult to the armed forces as a whole, all while signaling subservience to them.
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* “They are the army, they are the defense. I am the guarantor of the Constitution and I am the Supreme Commander-in-Chief who must give them everything they need to protect our people and our land. And if they are motivated by their heroes, the name of heroic historical figures whom they respect, and if it is very important for them, I must do everything they tell me. The Poles received this answer from me.”
– Recalling what he earlier alleged about how Ukraine is defending Poland, Zelensky is essentially claiming that Poland’s defense is dependent on Ukrainians who glorify Hitler’s genocidal collaborators. This is incredibly insulting, and seeing as how he said that he sent this answer to Poland, it’s little wonder that Nawrocki decided to revoke his country’s highest honor from him.
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* “[Nawrocki] said ‘You must cancel the decree.’ Well, excuse me, this is our question. And here Poland must understand this absolutely. In addition to historical issues, which, by the way, we openly discuss, there is also respect for today, for our army, and for the future. Without Ukraine, no one will be able to protect Poland. It is simply impossible. If there is no Ukraine, there is no protected Poland anymore.”
– As was earlier mentioned, Poland can protect itself, and Poland absolutely does not have to respect the alleged decision of certain Ukrainian troops to choose to name themselves after UPA genocidaires. Moreover, Poland already borders Russia’s Kaliningrad and Russia’s mutual defense ally Belarus, so Ukraine veritably isn’t protecting Poland in the political fantasy that Russia really wanted to invade it.
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* “I believe that after [Nawrocki] made the decision, this indicates that he is continuing the political struggle in principle within his state by raising morale, hatred of Ukrainians. What Orban dd. Bad history. I believe that it will end badly.”
– As Zelensky earlier implied by signaling his subservience to the ultra-nationalist troops who chose to be named after the UPA, it was actually his political decision for raising their morale which sparked this spiraling dispute, while all that Nawrocki did was respond as any self-respecting Polish leader would.
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* “I am Vladimir Zelensky, not Prince Vladimir. We are not talking about great historical figures, what happened in the past. We must talk about today, I am now the president, now I am defending the interests of my state. We must talk about friendship between peoples. Now Karol, Karol (which also means King) – this is not his position, this is his name, right? Well, after all, he doesn’t have a monarchy, he has a democracy.”
– Zelensky continues to refuse holding elections to this day despite the expiry of his term two years ago in May 2024, thus making him more akin to a “prince” or “king” than Nawrocki, who was democratically elected in free and fair elections by the Polish people, but whose conservative allies Zelensky might soon plot to undermine through potentially forthcoming Ukrainian meddling in fall 2027’s next Sejm elections on the false pretext of helping Tusk’s like-minded liberal allies undermine an alleged tyrant.
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Zelensky’s interview made it clear that he’s now in a personal war with Nawrocki, which could have far-reaching political and possibly even security consequences for Poland if Ukraine begins treating Poland like it earlier treated Hungary under Orban as Zelensky implied might soon happen. A whopping 74% of Poles support Nawrocki while 99.5% of Ukrainians on social media support Zelensky so people-to-people ties are ruined. This raises the chances that political ties will follow with possible security implications.
