Former minister: Poland 'blinked first' in dispute with Ukraine

Former Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz asserts that Poland demonstrated political weakness by threatening to revoke President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Order of the White Eagle, only to back down without Ukraine altering its actions.

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The announcement of revoking the Order of the White Eagle from Volodymyr Zelenskyy was intended as a demonstration of strength. It became a demonstration of political powerlessness.

Czaputowicz likens the situation to a "chicken game" in game theory, where two drivers race towards each other and only one swerves. He states that Polish President Karol Nawrocki lost this political duel because Zelenskyy did not change the military unit's name, and the threatened decree to revoke the order was never issued. While withdrawing the threat might have been preferable to a direct confrontation that Poland could not win politically, Czaputowicz argues the initial threat itself was a strategic misstep.

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In this sense, Nawrocki lost the political duel with Zelenskyy: the president of Ukraine did not change the unit's name, and the announced decree to revoke the order was not signed. Poland blinked first.

The former minister criticizes the choice of a symbolic gesture over diplomatic channels. He suggests that actions like summoning the ambassador, issuing a protest note, or a firm state communiqué would have carried less symbolic weight but would not have exposed Poland's limited capacity to enforce its threats as starkly. This approach, he argues, excludes Poland from discussions about Ukraine's future.

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The biggest mistake, however, was choosing a demonstrative instrument instead of a diplomatic one in the first place.

Czaputowicz further points out that Ukraine's ability to bypass Poland for crucial diplomatic talks, such as Zelenskyy's meetings in Chisinau with U.S. envoys, signals that Poland is no longer an indispensable partner. He warns that reputational damage will be difficult to repair, and if Zelenskyy skips the upcoming Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Gdańsk, the event intended to showcase Poland's importance could instead highlight its diminishing influence.

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By choosing a different travel route, Zelenskyy sent a clear signal that Poland is not a partner without whom effective diplomacy cannot be conducted today.