A new political scandal has erupted in the Czech parliament. Representatives of the far-right party "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD) have officially launched an initiative to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Lion — the highest state decoration of the Czech Republic.

Initiative to revoke the award

One of the party leaders, Indrzej Reichl, stated that the faction will demand a debate on this issue in the Chamber of Deputies. According to the politician, the Czech parliament should officially address the current President Petr Pavel with a proposal to annul the decision to award the Ukrainian leader.

During his speech, Reichl also repeated a series of claims about the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that have previously been actively disseminated by Russian propaganda. These statements became one of the grounds for criticism of the initiative.

Reaction of political forces

The scandalous proposal immediately sparked a wave of outrage among other political forces in the Czech Republic.

  • Representatives of the KDU-ČSL party and deputy Benjamin Činčila assured that they would actively oppose this decision, expressing hope that the parliament would not support the "absurd proposal".
  • The head of the STAN movement, Vít Rakušan, emphasized that the entire activity of SPD representatives boils down to loud symbolic statements and the use of hate speech.
  • Deputy Chairman of the TOP 09 party, Marek Ženíšek, ironically added that Czech far-right groups are simply spreading narratives coming from Moscow.

Legal context and history of the award

Volodymyr Zelenskyy received the Order of the White Lion in 2022. The then Czech leader Miloš Zeman honored the Ukrainian president for exceptional courage, resilience, and the decision to remain in Kyiv after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

However, current Czech legislation significantly limits the possibility of stripping state awards. Such a step is legal only in exceptional cases, specifically after an official guilty verdict by a court for committing a serious intentional crime. At present, there are no such grounds.

Polish precedent

The situation in the Czech Republic partly echoes events in Poland. Earlier, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle — the highest and oldest state decoration of Poland.

The basis for this step was Zelenskyy's decision to award one of the units of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces the honorary title "Heroes of the UPA". In response, the Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced their refusal to accept Polish state decorations.