“A sign of protest against a stupid decision.” Former deputy of the Polish Sejm also returned his state award to Nawrocki

Former Polish Sejm member Piotr Vogler returned his Golden Cross of Merit to President Karol Nawrocki. He expressed his protest against the “stupid decision” to take away the Order of the White Eagle from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Vogler wrote about this on Facebook.

He noted that this gesture was not addressed to the president who presented him with this order, that is, the third president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, but to Karol Nawrocki, the current president, whom Vogler called "the current tenant of the Belvedere".

"What this gentleman, who is called the president, has done and continues to do is a nightmare, and for me he is not the president of my country, but only a mistake, and I am still waiting for the Central Election Commission to recount the votes, because to this day I do not know the final results of these elections," the Polish ex-MP said.

Why Zelensky was stripped of Polandʼs highest state award

On May 26, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree awarding the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of the UPA".

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha explained Zelenskyʼs decree as follows: Ukrainians did not want to offend Poles and chose the name for the SOF unit to remember those who fought against imperial Moscow many years ago.

However, this decision of the Ukrainian president caused outrage among Poles. And on June 19, the current president Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Polandʼs highest state award, which he had been awarded by former Polish president Andrzej Duda. Zelensky later sent his order to Poland via “Nova Post”.

Three presidents of Ukraine — Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko — also refused their orders of the White Eagle. Also, the head of the Foreign Ministry Andriy Sybiha and the head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov refused their awards — the Commanderʼs Cross with the Star of the Order "For Merit to Poland" and the Golden Officerʼs Cross of the Order "For Merit to Poland".

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