Poland's president shut out of Ukraine recovery summit after Order of the White Eagle row
President Karol Nawrocki will not attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk on 25–26 June after Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy jointly invited all foreign partners but left the Polish head of state off the list, his office confirmed.
A deepening rift over history
The row traces back to 29 May, when President Nawrocki threatened to strip Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest civilian honour, the Order of the White Eagle, following Kyiv’s decision to name a military unit after the “Heroes of the UPA” – a group seen by many Poles as responsible for wartime massacres. On 19 June, Nawrocki made the revocation formal, and the next day Zelenskyy announced he had returned the medal to Warsaw. No direct conversation between the two presidents has taken place; a planned phone call and a later meeting were both cancelled.
The invitation that never came
On Monday, Marcin Przydacz, head of the presidential international policy bureau, told reporters that invitations to the Gdańsk conference had been dispatched jointly by Prime Minister Tusk and President Zelenskyy. Nawrocki received none.
Government spokesman Adam Szłapka later said the omission was “due to the format of the event” and added that the presidential palace had shown no interest in participating.The president was not invited, so he is not going to an event to which he was not invited by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. No subordinate official is going either, because there are no invitations.
A practical conference, not a ceremonial one
Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, speaking in Madrid, characterised the URC 2026 as “very practical” rather than a courtesy visit.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s communication adviser Dmytro Łytwyn told the Polish Press Agency:Poland is represented by Prime Minister Tusk – he is the co‑host. I think there is neither a faux pas nor a friction.
It is not for us to invite the president of Poland to an event taking place in a Polish city. This is an internal Polish matter.
Gdańsk prepares for 5,000 guests
The Ukraine Recovery Conference is expected to draw 4,000–5,000 participants, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime ministers of Latvia, Estonia, the Netherlands and Austria. The Polish asset‑management ministry has indicated that nearly 200 economic agreements are under negotiation, though some officials speaking anonymously to media described the preparatory process as chaotic. Attendance by President Zelenskyy remains uncertain.
A split inside the government
Anonymous government sources portrayed the snub in starkly different terms. One told Wirtualna Polska that Nawrocki’s order‑revocation campaign had caused “a lot of problems” and made relations with Kyiv more difficult. Another called the lack of an invitation “a scandal” and argued that Poland needed to appear as a mature partner represented at the highest possible level. Presidential officials, for their part, played down the event’s significance, calling its value “somewhat exaggerated” and contending that previous editions had focused more on fundraising than on concrete reconstruction deals.
- President Nawrocki threatens to revoke Zelenskyy’s Order of the White Eagle after Ukraine names a unit “Heroes of the UPA”.
- Nawrocki formally revokes the Order of the White Eagle from Zelenskyy.
- Zelenskyy returns the medal to Warsaw; planned phone call and meeting between the two presidents fall through.
- Marcin Przydacz confirms that Nawrocki has not received an invitation to the URC 2026 conference in Gdańsk.
- Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 opens in Gdańsk; it is unclear whether Zelenskyy will attend.
