Sybiha renounces Polish order over Nawrocki’s decision: Details

Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, has officially announced that he is returning to the Republic of Poland its high state award, the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

He shared this in a post on Facebook.

"The decision to strip the President of Ukraine of the Order of the White Eagle is a strategic mistake by the Polish president, from which only Moscow will benefit. We regret that emotions have prevailed in Warsaw, leading to unjustified, impulsive, and disrespectful steps taken not just against President Zelenskyy, but primarily against the Ukrainian state," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said.

According to him, such a move by the Polish leadership is completely unjustified and primarily damages the bilateral relations between the neighboring countries. Only the aggressor state benefits from this kind of political escalation.

Against the backdrop of the escalating situation, the head of Ukraine’s MFA decided to decline his own Polish state award—the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which he received in October 2022. He stressed that in this situation, principles and mutual respect are more important than accolades.

"In light of such reckless actions, I see no possibility of retaining the high state award of the Republic of Poland presented to me in October 2022. I will return it to Poland shortly. This is not about orders; it is about attitude. We have always advocated for an approach based on mutual respect—even when dealing with complex and problematic topics. And this implies that we respect each other's decisions even when we disagree with them. "Agree to disagree," as the saying goes," Sybiha said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that Ukraine never sought this conflict and has actively worked over the past year and a half to depoliticize complex historical issues. Kyiv has taken numerous steps toward Warsaw, including unblocking search and exhumation works. Currently, such research is ongoing in Huta Pieniacka at the request of the Polish side.

Despite this, the Polish side chose to escalate the situation to an unreasonable level, which is counterproductive for both nations. However, the Ukrainian minister made it clear that no one will be allowed to pressure Ukraine regarding matters of national memory.

"No president of another country will dictate our history to us. We hope that over time, cooler heads will prevail and our Polish friends will return to an equal dialogue that befits the allied relations between our countries amid countering the common enemy in Moscow," Andrii Sybiha concluded.