NAWROCKI: STRIP ZELENSKYY OF TOP HONOR OVER GLORIFYING NAZIS

WARSAW, MAY 29 /SRNA/ - Polish President Karol Nawrocki said he would initiate proceedings to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland's highest state decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, following Kiev's decision to name an elite military unit after Nazi collaborators, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Nawrocki stressed that he viewed the decision "very critically" and that he received it "with great sadness".

"Unfortunately, President Zelenskyy has proven that in terms of its mentality and its glorification of bandits and murderers from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, is not ready to be part of the European family," he noted.

Nawrocki announced that he had convened a meeting of the board of the Order of the White Eagle, to be held on June 8, at which he would propose to strip Zelenskyy of the award, Polskie Radio reported.

"Although the final decision belongs to the president, the board must first meet and vote on awarding or stripping the award," Nawrocki added.

The dispute was sparked by a decree signed by Zelenskyy earlier this week that named a special operations unit after the "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" and gave them the slogan "in the name of the heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army".

Zelenskyy was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's oldest and most prestigious state decoration, in April 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda.

Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa announced earlier that he was removing the Ukrainian flag from his lapel because of the naming of a military unit after Nazi collaborators and that he would no longer support Zelenskyy.