How to save relations with Poland and what Zelenskyy’s visit to Gdańsk has to do with it

Ukrainian-Polish relations are experiencing their deepest crisis in many years.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s decision to "punish" the president of Ukraine by stripping him of the Order of the White Eagle, and the subsequent mass renouncing of Polish state honours by Ukrainian politicians and diplomats, are not the cause of this crisis, merely one of its manifestations.

This is not about awards. We are truly heading towards the abyss.

Poland’s political arena is filled with anti-Ukrainian narratives and xenophobia. There are, however, politicians who are trying to prevent relations with Ukraine from deteriorating further.

But for the very same reasons, President Zelenskyy should travel to Poland this week – to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Gdańsk.

The visit would help Ukraine’s friends – and refusing to go would help anti-Ukrainian politicians.

Read more in the European Pravda editorial piece: Why Ukraine needs Zelenskyy to travel to Gdańsk despite the Polish-Ukrainian crisis. 

The "Ukraine question" has long been used as a tool in domestic politics in Poland. The reason is simple: playing against Ukraine brings electoral dividends.

For Nawrocki, attacks on Ukraine are a tool in his struggle against Donald Tusk.

For example, if Tusk is not sufficiently supportive of criticism of Ukraine by Nawrocki, he can be accused of being "pro-Ukrainian". In Poland today, this accusation is being increasingly used to stigmatise nationally prominent politicians.

The story surrounding the Order of the White Eagle is a perfect example of this dynamic, as European Pravda has previously explained in this article. When Karol Nawrocki signed the decree stripping Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order, it wasn’t just punishing his Ukrainian counterpart that was important to him. More significantly, he would need to send the decree to Tusk for countersignature, knowing that the prime minister is opposed to the Ukrainian president being "punished".

This is precisely why Zelenskyy’s decision to return the order to Warsaw was the right one: it removed the political need for Tusk’s signature and minimised the political damage to him.

However, Zelenskyy’s loss of the decoration is not the end of the story.

The crisis has not gone anywhere. It has only become more acute. And the President’s Office in Kyiv is fully aware of how deep it is. One sign of this is the fact that since early June, Zelenskyy has no longer been using Rzeszów Airport for his foreign trips. During a period of tension between the two countries, it would look odd to be relying on Polish transit and would further underscore Kyiv’s dependence on Poland.

Nevertheless, Zelenskyy had planned to make an exception for the trip to Gdańsk given the importance of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) – the annual international forum on Ukraine, which this year has been organised by Poland. 

Warsaw aspires to international leadership on Ukrainian issues and is frustrated by its inability to fully achieve that goal. Even the milder version of such a response would be a slap in the face of the Polish government from Kyiv.

However, after the decoration was withdrawn, Kyiv started to think about cancelling even that exception.

So its disruption or failure would be a failure for Tusk. It would also provide another argument for anti-Ukrainian forces in Warsaw to complain about Kyiv’s "ingratitude", which they would claim is isolating Poland from European discussions on aid to Ukraine.

In addition, Zelenskyy’s refusal to travel to Gdańsk would be perceived in Poland as a sign of Kyiv’s weakness.

But an important point must be added: decisions regarding Poland should be based on two factors.

The first is Ukraine’s interest: does a given action bring strategic benefit to Ukraine?

The second is the interest of those forces and politicians in Poland that are friendly to Ukraine. If Ukraine acts without considering their position, it will only strengthen anti-Ukrainian forces – and ultimately harm Ukraine itself.

Both of these considerations mean that Zelenskyy should go to Gdańsk and maintain the Polish government’s engagement in Ukrainian affairs. Politics is no place for emotional decisions.

But this also means that despite all of Nawrocki’s outrageous behaviour, Zelenskyy should also seek to meet with him.