During Karol Nawrocki's first year as president, 14 recipients returned honors awarded between 1984 and 2026, including the Order of Polonia Restituta and the Order of Merit.
Following Nawrocki's June 2026 decision to strip Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Ukrainian officials including Andrii Sybiha and Kyrylo Budanov returned their Polish decorations.
An actor, an anti-communist opposition figure, and retired Lieutenant Colonel Maciej Moryc took action, though Moryc's NATO medal was redirected to NATO headquarters.
During the first year of Karol Nawrocki's presidential term, 14 recipients sent back state decorations to the Presidential Chancellery. The returned items cover honors conferred between 1984 and 2026 across several categories, ranks, and classes. In correspondence with reporters, presidential officials noted that the actions had no uniform character or common administrative basis.
“These cases concerned various types of state decorations awarded in the years 1984–2026, including the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the Cross of Merit, the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity, the Long Service Medal, and the Iraq Star in diverse classes and grades.”
The most frequent motive recorded across the returns was opposition to Nawrocki's decision in June 2026 to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle. Nawrocki removed the 2023 distinction after Zelensky named a military unit in honor of UPA heroes, leading Zelensky to send the insignia back by mail. Multiple Ukrainian officials subsequently returned their Polish state honors.
“The returns were accompanied by correspondence indicating the motives behind the decision, such as a gesture of protest against stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle. In other cases, the decorations were handed over without broader justification.”
The Ukrainian officials returning honors include former Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, and Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva, all of whom returned the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha returned the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit, while Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov returned the Officer's Cross of the same order.
Several Polish citizens also returned honors without making their identities public. These include a woman decorated with the Bronze Cross of Merit, a man with the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity, an actor holding the Silver Cross of Merit, and a historian and anti-communist opposition figure from the Polish People's Republic era who returned both the Commander's Cross with Star and Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
Not every announced protest resulted in a physical return to the Chancellery. Former parliamentarian Piotr Fogler declared on public record that he would return his Gold Cross of Merit over the Zelensky decision, but officials confirmed the insignia was never delivered. In February 2026, retired military intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Maciej Moryc announced on TVP that he would return a NATO medal earned in Afghanistan because of Nawrocki's lack of reaction to statements by US President Donald Trump. The Chancellery mailed the medal back to Moryc, explaining that it was not a Polish presidential honor and that the proper recipient was the Office of the NATO Secretary General.
The Presidential Chancellery clarified the legal status of individuals who return physical insignia without formal deprivation. Under Polish statutory law, surrendering an insignia is a factual action that carries no legal consequences. Unless formally stripped of honors by presidential decree, all individuals who returned badges remain legally decorated.
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Fourteen individuals returned state decorations awarded between 1984 and 2026 during Karol Nawrocki's first presidential year, with several senior Ukrainian officials and Polish citizens protesting his decision to revoke Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle.
AI text based on reports by Do Rzeczy, wiadomosci.radiozet.pl, Rzeczpospolita and other publishers. Published .