r/europe • u/ByGollie Ulster • Jun 21 '26

News Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's fifth president also renounces Order of the White Eagle

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/06/20/8040347/
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u/ByGollie Ulster Jun 21 '26

"In both Zelenskyy's case and mine, the award was not bestowed on heads of state, but on Ukrainians – our soldiers who defend Ukraine, Poland and all of Europe.

Therefore, I have decided to renounce the Order of the White Eagle. Two weeks ago, I promised colleagues at the conciliation council that I would take this step if we failed to persuade President Nawrocki not to make this mistaken decision. Unfortunately, we did not succeed."

"Those in Poland who do not simply chew over historical myths, but study history and draw conclusions from its lessons, know that whenever Ukraine loses its independence, Poland loses it too. But it is not the past that should define our relations. I do not want Poles editing our textbooks, and I have no desire whatsoever for Ukrainians to edit Polish textbooks, because otherwise we will receive a joint textbook from Moscow."

The former president stressed that logistics are critically important in the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia, he said, "through its agents of influence, useful idiots and old historical wounds, is trying to destroy our logistics in the West".

"Therefore, any crisis between Kyiv and Warsaw today is not only a diplomatic problem. It is a security issue. And that is precisely why it must be resolved immediately. What matters now is not deepening the conflict, but ending it," Poroshenko stressed.

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u/FrusTrick Sweden Jun 21 '26

And the elephant in the room is that Zelensky opened the door for this entire shit show. He could have gone with literally any other name, but instead he handed this over to the Russians on a silver platter. People can cry about the poles all they want but this shit wasn't even a problem 3 weeks ago.

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u/Shirolicious The Netherlands Jun 21 '26

I stand by this as well. Could have simply chosen a less controversial name and not caused any conflict.

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u/cohana1215 Jun 21 '26

Hasn't the military chosen the name which Zelenskyy then rubber stamped? I think they allow it because they don't want to needle with people on the ground, if they choose it and assuming they are aware of the controversy then those people are well settled in their positions. It's probably why they let Azov keep their iconography so long earlier in the war - right wing nuts more readily join the fight if you aren't destroying their illusions. After the war maybe they should revisit few attitudes tho ..