Russia: Ukraine's award renunciation gives Poland grounds to block EU accession

MOSCOW, June 21. /TASS/. Kiev's theatrical demarche in response to Poland's outrage over the glorification of Nazism in Ukraine gives Warsaw legal grounds to oppose the country's accession to the European Union, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told TASS.

Earlier, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Vladimir Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle following the latter's decision to name one of the Ukrainian armed forces units after the "heroes of the UPA" (the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, designated as extremist and banned in Russia). In response, Zelensky, a number of Ukrainian officials, and three former Ukrainian presidents - Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko, and Pyotr Poroshenko (included by Russia's financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring on the list of individuals involved in extremist activity or terrorism) - announced that they were renouncing Polish state awards.

"Previously, only Yushchenko had shown immeasurable affection for [Stepan] Bandera and tried to bestow on him the title of Hero of Ukraine. Now both Kuchma and Poroshenko have openly joined the ranks of Banderites and admirers of German collaborators. This theatrical demarche will very soon become a stumbling block during negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. It is all for the better, because no one was planning to admit them anyway, but now Poland has an official reason to explain why they do not want to see Banderites in the EU," the diplomat said.