Czech Party Seeks to Strip Zelensky of Country's Highest Honor

A Czech opposition party has proposed stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Czech Republic’s highest state honor, arguing it “cannot stay silent” after Kyiv named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

According to Ceske Noviny on Tuesday, the opposition Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party said it would seek support within the country’s governing coalition to revoke Zelensky’s Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic’s highest state decoration.

“We cannot stay silent when our country’s highest state honor is held by a person who names military units after Nazi monsters,” SPD ally and PRO party leader Jindřich Rajchl told reporters.

Rajchl said the Czech initiative follows Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s recent decision to revoke the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration, from Zelensky.

The UPA is a WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist force viewed in Poland as responsible for massacres of tens of thousands of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, while many Ukrainians regard it as a symbol of anti-Soviet resistance.

The SPD said it wants the Czech parliament to formally recommend that President Petr Pavel revoke Zelensky’s award.

Awarded for remaining in Kyiv

Zelensky received the Order of the White Lion in October 2022 from then-President Miloš Zeman.

At the time, Zeman said the award recognized Zelensky’s “courage and bravery” for rejecting offers to leave Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion and choosing to remain in Kyiv.

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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.

Several Czech lawmakers condemned the initiative.

Benjamin Činčila of the Christian and Democratic Union (KDU-ČSL) said he hoped other opposition parties would reject the proposal, while fellow lawmaker Václav Pláteník described it as “cowardly and disgraceful.”

STAN leader Vít Rakušan accused SPD of pursuing divisive politics, while TOP 09 deputy chairman Marek Ženíšek mocked the proposal, suggesting some SPD politicians “receive instructions directly from Moscow.”

Poland’s decision to revoke Zelensky’s state award prompted several senior Ukrainian officials, including the president’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, and former presidents Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko, to return their Polish decorations in protest.