Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Declined a State Award in Protest
Vasyl Zvarych, Ukraine’s former ambassador to Poland, announced that he was returning the “Commander’s Cross with Star ‘For Merit’” order, which he had received from Polish President Andrzej Duda in 2024.
The diplomat explained his decision by citing his disagreement with the recent actions of Polish President Karol Nawrocki regarding Ukraine and emphasized that the need to defend the honor of the Ukrainian state, its president, its Armed Forces, and its people compels him to return the award.
“Karol Nawrocki has effectively called into question decades of painstaking work aimed at Ukrainian-Polish reconciliation and mutual understanding,” Zvarych noted.
He also stressed that no one outside Ukraine has the right to determine whom Ukrainians should consider their heroes, and that his decision is not a gesture of disrespect toward the Polish people.
“This is a protest against the destruction of the legacy of Ukrainian-Polish reconciliation, which people of good will on both sides of the border have been building for decades,” the diplomat added.
Source: Vasyl Zvarych.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga announced that a decision on Ukraine’s participation in the Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine, to be held on June 25–26 in Gdańsk, will be made in the near future.
Ukraine calls on Poland to make measured decisions and engage in diplomatic dialogue amid a new escalation in bilateral relations.
The third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, emphasized that in relations between Ukraine and Poland, it is important to maintain the political formula of “we apologize and ask for forgiveness.”
Former Polish Sejm deputy Piotr Fogler returned his state award—the “Golden Cross of Merit”—to the president as a sign of protest and solidarity with Ukraine.
