Poland’s Tusk seeks calm and dialogue with Ukraine in row over army unit

WARSAW, June 8 (Reuters) – Poland’s prime minister called for solidarity and talks between Warsaw and Kyiv on Monday after diplomatic relations deteriorated over the naming of a Ukrainian army unit for nationalist insurgents who massacred Poles in World War Two.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy caused outrage in Poland last month by renaming an army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that fought in the 1939-45 war.

The dispute has dragged Ukraine’s relations with one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s 2022 invasion to a new low as Kyiv seeks to bolster support for its efforts to join the European Union.

A Polish advisory body met on Monday to discuss a proposal by Polish President Karol Nawrocki that Zelenskiy should be stripped of Poland’s highest honour. 

“Today, the Chapter of the Order of the White Eagle convened regarding the Order awarded to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The Chapter presented its opinion to President… Karol Nawrocki, who participated in the deliberations,” Nawrocki’s spokesperson said on social media platform X.

“The President will make a decision at the appropriate time.”

Tusk called for direct talks between Nawrocki and Zelenskiy.

“Since diplomacy has yielded no results, I publicly appeal to Presidents @NawrockiKn and @ZelenskyyUa for a direct and honest conversation,” Tusk, a political opponent of Nawrocki, wrote on X.

“Before emotions destroy our solidarity, which was born in the face of the Russian threat. Cooperation is in the interest of both our states and nations, and conflict is in the interest of Moscow.”

If Nawrocki decides to strip Zelenskiy of the honour, Tusk’s countersignature would likely be needed for the decision to come into effect, although legal experts are divided on this.

SOURING MOOD TOWARDS UKRAINE

Polish public sentiment towards Ukraine has become more negative because of weariness with an influx of war refugees, disputes over grain imports and the legacy of the World War Two massacres of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists.

Former President Andrzej Duda awarded Zelenskiy the Order of the White Eagle in 2023, but Nawrocki said in May that an advisory council should discuss stripping him of the honour over the decision to rename the unit.

Some Ukrainians regard the UPA as heroes for their resistance to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

But the UPA was also involved in the Volhynia massacres, a series of killings from 1943 to 1945 in which Poland says around 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainian nationalists. Thousands of Ukrainians also died in reprisal killings.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has said the name was chosen by soldiers who wanted to commemorate the UPA’s fight against Moscow and who had no intention of offending Poland.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Sanjeev Miglani)