The Czech Republic has refused to consider stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Lion
The office of Czech President Petr Pavel has rejected an initiative by the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s highest state award—the Order of the White Lion. The presidential office emphasized that the head of state does not have the authority to do so.
A spokesperson for the Czech president explained that neither the Constitution nor current legislation allows the president to revoke state awards on his own.
“A state award conferred or presented by the President of the Republic may be revoked only on the basis of a final court decision imposing a penalty in the form of the revocation of honorary titles and awards. This punishment may be imposed only under the conditions provided for in the Criminal Code,” the spokesperson emphasized.
Thus, the SPD’s initiative cannot be implemented by a decision of the Czech president.
The “Freedom and Direct Democracy” (SPD) party has demanded that Volodymyr Zelenskyy be stripped of the Order of the White Lion—the Czech Republic’s highest state honor.
At the same time, the presidential administration stressed that the law does not provide for a mechanism to revoke an award on political grounds.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was awarded the Order of the White Lion in October 2022 by then-Czech President Miloš Zeman.
During the award ceremony, Zeman explained his decision as follows:
“The main reason for the award is his bravery and courage in rejecting the American offer of asylum and in his decision to remain in Kyiv, which was then engulfed in war,” he noted after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Consequently, the Order of the White Lion remains with the President of Ukraine, and Petr Pavel’s administration has confirmed that there are no legal grounds for revoking it.
A spokesperson for the Czech president stated this in a comment to “Ukrinform.”
The Czech right-wing populist party SPD stated that it would seek to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Czech Republic’s highest state award—the Order of the White Lion.
The decision to revoke Poland’s highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not a unilateral act by the president. Under Polish procedure, the president may initiate the revocation of an award, but the relevant act requires the countersignature of the Polish prime minister.
In response to the Polish president’s actions, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga stated that he would return his state award to Poland.
