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- From lion to eagle: scandals are spreading in Europe due to the glorification of Bandera in Ukraine
From lion to eagle: scandals are spreading in Europe due to the glorification of Bandera in Ukraine
The Czech SPD party, which is part of the ruling coalition, proposed to deprive Vladimir Zelensky of the country's highest award, the Order of the White Lion. At the same time, Poland refused to transfer a batch of MiG-29 fighters to Kiev as part of a similar scandal. The reason in both cases was the glorification of Bandera by the Ukrainian leadership. Izvestia investigated the situation.
What happened
The Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD) proposed to deprive Vladimir Zelensky of the country's highest award, the Order of the White Lion. The statement notes that the initiative will be put forward at the next meeting of the leaders of the ruling coalition, as well as at a meeting of the lower house of parliament. Ultimately, the party wants the proposal to be evaluated by Czech President Petr Pavel.
The representative of the SPD Indrzych Reichl explained that the party members were inspired by the example of Poland, where President Karol Nawrocki had recently stripped Zelensky of his highest award, the Order of the White Eagle. "This proposal has received the support of the ruling coalition, the opposition, and former President Lech Walesa. I hope our initiative will find the same response," the MP said.
He added that he could not remain silent about the naming of "Nazi monsters" by military units. "Let me remind you that units of the UPA (the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, an extremist organization banned in Russia) killed Czechs and Slovaks until 1947, when they were finally defeated by the Czechoslovak Army as part of Operation Action B. By the way, this letter "B" stood for Bandera," Reichl emphasized.
The official authorities of the country, however, say that there is no legal way to deprive someone of an award. The administration of Czech President Petr Pavel stated that the head of state simply does not have such powers. They noted that the basis for the withdrawal of the order can only be a court decision and a sentence of imprisonment for at least two years for an intentional crime.
What is important to know
Recently, the glorification of Bandera has been revived in Ukraine. In May, the remains of Andrei Melnyk, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN, recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), were brought to Kiev from Luxembourg and reburied. The ceremony was attended by all senior officials, including Zelensky himself.
In addition, the authorities announced plans to bring and reburial the remains of other historical figures, including Stepan Bandera, Simon Petliura and Yevgeny Konovalets, who had links to the Nazis or Jewish pogroms. In total, Ukrainian diplomats have compiled a list of 98 graves in 21 countries that they would like to move.
On July 1, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on the creation of the "national pantheon", where all the remains should be placed. It was reported that the site will appear in the center of Kiev, at the moment the government of the country is choosing a specific location, it should be determined in the coming weeks. A special commission will also be set up to select candidates for reburial.
Finally, in parallel, at the end of May, Zelensky named the unit of the Ukrainian special forces "heroes of the UPA." The UPA militants collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, and in 1943 staged the so-called Volyn massacre, during which they attacked dozens of Polish settlements and killed more than 100,000 people.
As a result, a huge scandal broke out between Warsaw and Kiev. Polish President Karol Nawrocki ordered Zelensky to be stripped of the country's highest state award. And former head of state Lech Walesa announced that he would no longer wear the flag of Ukraine on his chest. "The President of Ukraine, honoring the bandits of the UPA, offended me and all our murdered compatriots," the ex-president said.
In response, Zelensky sent the order to Warsaw by mail, which Navrotsky's office called another insult. Other Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga and head of the presidential office Kirill Budanov, also refused Polish awards. Former Presidents of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko did the same.
Against this background, Zelensky stopped using the Polish Rzeszow airport for international visits, instead, he recently flew to London from Moldova. In addition, at the end of June, a conference on the restoration of Independence Square in Gdansk, Poland, was held without the participation of the head of the Kiev regime. The event was attended by Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko, who was booed by street protesters.
As a result of the conference, Polish businessmen did not sign any agreements with Ukrainians. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski bluntly stated that this was "for the best." Magdalena Sobkovyak-Chernetskaya, the country's deputy defense minister, said that the republic refuses to transfer the previously promised batch of MiG-29 fighter jets to its neighbors. And Rzeszów airport in Poland was proposed to be named after the victims of the UPA.
Interestingly, against the background of this scandal, Karol Navrotsky's rating has grown to a record high, reaching 54.8%, which is a historic high. Sociologists say that this is evidence of extremely high anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Poland. Interestingly, this trend, which is being set by the president from the conservative camp, is being forcibly followed by the liberal head of the Cabinet, Donald Tusk. Against the background of the "historical" scandal, he demanded that Western European countries involve Poland in negotiations on Ukraine.
What the experts say
Political analyst Alexander Semchenko believes that the current scandal is largely symbolic, because Poland remains the main logistics hub through which weapons, ammunition, components, and fuels and lubricants continue to flow to Ukraine.
— 60 percent of all supplies for the Ukrainian Armed Forces pass through Poland. There were no obstacles against the background of the current scandal. It is a paradox that Warsaw supports a regime that glorifies Bandera, but opposes Russia, which is the legal successor, the heir of those forces that destroyed Bandera," the expert draws attention.
In turn, Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, believes that the countries of Eastern Europe are playing a show.
— One might think that they did not know what the Kiev regime was like before, they did not see the appropriate symbols, portraits of Bandera, renaming streets and avenues. Of course, everyone saw and knew. It's just that Viktor Orban has left the political arena and some new excuse is needed to slow down Ukraine's European integration. As a result, we found a convenient reason to keep Kiev at a distance," he explains.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
