WARSAW — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on June 21 urged restraint after a diplomatic spat between Poland and Ukraine over a historical dispute, calling political confrontation “a strategic mistake” that will hurt both countries.
The row erupted when Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki revoked the Order of the White Eagle awarded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in protest over Zelenskiy’s decision to rename a Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, whose wartime actions included massacres of Poles. The move prompted three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to return their Polish state awards in solidarity.
Tusk, who leads a pro-European coalition that ousted the nationalist Law and Justice party, warned on X that escalating the conflict would damage business ties, geopolitical standing and reputations. He said he is working with European partners to reduce tensions and “minimise losses,” adding that in politics “a mistake is worse than a crime.”