Ukraines Recovery to Be Discussed in Poland Amid Tensions with Warsaw

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has stripped Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle, over the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The UPA was a nationalist, paramilitary force that emerged during World War II and resisted Sovietisation in western Ukrainian regions. In 1964, Andriy Melnyk, a leader of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which spawned the UPA, died in West Germany.

On May 22, Zelenskyy attended a ceremony at a military cemetery outside Kyiv to pay respects to Melnyk and other Ukrainian heroes. Four days later, he named an elite military unit after the heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. This move prompted a diplomatic spat between Poland and Ukraine.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, Poland has been a key logistical partner for Ukraine, providing arms, aid, and shelter for millions of refugees. In response to Zelenskyy’s actions, Nawrocki stripped him of the Order of the White Eagle on June 19. However, Ukrainian officials have returned their Polish state awards.

Anton Shekhotsov, an expert on European far-right groups, believes that the spat is unlikely to sway Poland’s support for Ukraine due to shared concerns about Russia. Most of what was once part of Poland was under the tsarist empire for over a century, and after WWII, Warsaw became a pro-Soviet satellite.

Poland’s Prime Minister has sought to calm tensions ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk, which starts on Thursday. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko will lead Kyiv’s delegation instead of Zelenskyy. The UPA emerged due to various factors, including Ukrainian nationalist aspirations and the Holodomor, a man-made famine that killed millions of Ukrainians.

The UPA participated in the Holocaust and committed atrocities against ethnic Poles in western Ukraine. Historians and survivors estimate that tens of thousands of Poles were killed by the UPA during World War II.

Source: Al Jazeera