A Czech opposition party has proposed stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Czech Republic’s highest state decoration, arguing the president “cannot stay silent” after Kyiv named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
The Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party said it would seek support within the Czech governing coalition to revoke Zelensky’s Order of the White Lion, the country’s top state honor. SPD ally and PRO party leader Jindřich Rajchl said the move follows Poland’s decision to revoke Zelensky’s Polish award after Kyiv named a unit in a way Warsaw viewed as linked to the UPA.
UPA figures are remembered differently across the region. In Poland, the group is accused of carrying out massacres of tens of thousands of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during World War II. Many Ukrainians instead view the UPA as a symbol of anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi resistance during the period.
SPD said it wants the Czech parliament to formally recommend that Czech President Petr Pavel revoke Zelensky’s award. Zelensky received the Order of the White Lion in October 2022, awarded by then-president Miloš Zeman for Zelensky’s decision to remain in Kyiv after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The proposal has drawn criticism from other Czech lawmakers, who called it divisive and inappropriate. Under Czech law, state decorations are generally revoked only after a final court conviction for a serious intentional crime resulting in a prison sentence of at least two years, meaning the initiative would face legal and political hurdles before any formal revocation could occur.
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