SERBIA PERSPECTIVE

Belgrade, June 21, 2026. Polish President Karol Nawrocki's decision to revoke Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle—Poland's highest state honor—has drawn careful coverage in Serbian media, which perceives far more than a procedural dispute. For Belgrade outlets, this episode exposes the depth of historical wounds traversing Central and Eastern Europe, even among Kyiv's closest allies.

According to N1 Serbia, Nawrocki's stated rationale is specific: a Zelensky decree permitted a Ukrainian special forces unit to bear the name "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA). This organization, linked to Stepan Bandera's nationalist movement, is held responsible by Polish historians for approximately 100,000 deaths among the Polish minority in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia between 1943 and 1945. "The decision by Ukrainian authorities to glorify the UPA is not merely scandalous and incomprehensible, it is disappointing. It strikes at not only historical memory but at trust built over years," Nawrocki said, quoted by N1 Serbia.

The newspaper Politika, among the region's oldest, underscores the unprecedented nature of this revocation in recent Polish history. The Order had been conferred on Zelensky in April 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda, in recognition of his contribution to defending peace and democracy in Europe. Less than three years later, his successor Nawrocki—a historian by training and former director of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance—revokes it in what amounts to a complete symbolic reversal.

Politika notes that Nawrocki, even before taking office, demanded that Kyiv take clear position on UPA war crimes. The journal emphasizes that the dispute pits two irreconcilable readings: Ukraine celebrates the UPA as a national resistance movement, while Poland regards it as responsible for ethnocide. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responded to the Polish decision, though Zelensky has not surrendered his defense of the honor's collective meaning: "We were convinced that the Order of the White Eagle was conferred in 2023 on the Ukrainian people and our army," he wrote on Telegram, quoted by N1 Serbia.

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (2005-2010) chose to return his own Order of the White Eagle, "as a sign of disagreement" with the Polish decision, according to his spokesman. A gesture of solidarity that amplifies the symbolic weight of the incident.

Nawrocki himself warned of geopolitical consequences: "Nothing serves the Kremlin's interests better than conflict between Ukrainians and Poles," he declared, stressing that his decision does not alter Poland's strategic line supporting Kyiv against Russian aggression.