The Czech Republic is proposing to deprive President Volodymyr Zelensky of the highest state award, following the example of Poland.
This is what České noviny writes about.
The right-wing populist party SPD proposed to strip Zelensky of the Order of the White Lion because the Ukrainian president named the SSO unit after the "Heroes of UPA".
"We cannot remain silent when our highest state order is worn by a person who names military units after Nazi monsters," said SPD faction representative Jindřich Reichl.
The party plans to bring the issue up for discussion in the government and appeal to Czech President Petr Pavel. However, opposition MPs are criticizing the idea.
The SPD is an openly pro-Russian, populist, and anti-immigrant force. The party is categorically against any aid to Ukraine. Its leader, Tomio Okamura, often repeats theses that resemble Russian propaganda.
What preceded
On May 26, 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 UPA". The document states that this was done "to restore the historical traditions of the national army".
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”.
After that, three former Ukrainian presidents — Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Petro Poroshenko — refused the order. Also, the head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Foreign Ministry Andriy Sybiha, and former Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, refused their other Polish awards.
Former Polish Sejm member Piotr Vogler also refused the Golden Cross of Merit. He called President Nawrockiʼs actions a "nightmare".
At the same time, Polish politicians have also begun to refuse Ukrainian state awards. In particular, former Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and former Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński announced this decision.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also transferred the Ukrainian Order of Yaroslav the Wise, which he received from Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, to the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Volyn Tragedy in Chelm, Poland.
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