Polish & Ukrainian presidents stoke historical spat for domestic audiences | News In Depth

Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to strip his Ukrainian counterpart of Poland’s highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, resulted in numerous Ukrainian officials also returning their Polish decorations. Has Nawrocki miscalculated the fallout of his decision?

As TVP World’s Political Editor Stuart Dowell noted, many analysts see the Polish president’s move as being “aimed at a domestic audience and not as part of an international policy.”

“His decision to (rescind) the order plays very well to those on the right side of Polish politics. So he gets that benefit,” said TVP World’s Political Editor, Stuart Dowell.

And while the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the honor is not widely seen in Poland as the right move, many Poles across the political spectrum are outraged at what caused the spat in the first place: Zelenskyy naming a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

But why would Zelenskyy honor a World War Two formation responsible for ethnically cleansing some 100,000 Poles?

“I think he made the decision because there are benefits for him domestically,” Dowell said, noting that Ukraine’s historic policy focuses on UPA’s anti-Soviet stance, of particular importance when Ukraine is fighting an existential war against Russia, “Zelenskyy and his government want to create a kind of continuity, that resistance is much longer than just in this war. The UPA is a way to do that.”

Join News in Depth’s host Don Arleth and his guest as they explore the vastly differing perspectives on the Volhynia massacre as seen from Warsaw and Kyiv, whether stripping Zelenskyy of the honor was the right call by Nawrocki, and whether Poland will use its membership in the EU to hamper Ukraine’s accession to the bloc as leverage.

Chapters:
00:00 Poland-Ukraine historical dispute over the Volhynia massacre reignites
03:01 Competing historical narratives and state-level positions
06:58 Polish domestic politics behind the medal controversy
10:43 Escalation, fallout, and issue of exhumations
14:08 Zelenskyy’s motivations behind naming a military unit after UPA
17:17 Will Poland hold Ukraine’s EU bid hostage to get leverage?

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