Nawrocki: Polish soldiers cannot serve under the UPA banner — this is unacceptable

Polish President Karol Nawrocki has stated that Vladimir Zelensky’s decision to name a unit of the Ukrainian army after heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is unacceptable for Poland.

The Polish president made the announcement in a video address published on his X social media page.

“…the Polish army has trained thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. Today we cannot be indifferent to the fact that some of them will serve under the UPA banner. For us, this is unacceptable,” — Nawrocki said.

On June 19, the Polish leader officially stripped the president of Ukraine of the country’s highest state honor — the Order of the White Eagle. The decision was made in connection with the naming of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ special operations center “Heroes of the UPA.” Prior to this, Warsaw had given Kyiv time to reverse the decision.

Nawrocki also warned that without an honest reckoning with the difficult pages of history, Ukraine has no place in the European Union, and Poland will not allow it.

Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign minister declined to accept the Polish Commander’s Cross.