Andrzej Duda defends decision to honor Volodymyr Zelenskyy

During the Economic Forum in Karpacz, former Polish President Andrzej Duda defended his decision to award Volodymyr Zelenskyy the Order of the White Eagle. Duda stated that Zelenskyy should be remembered as a hero of Ukraine for his leadership in 2022, asserting that without him, Kyiv would not have been defended and Ukraine's sovereignty would be at risk.

Duda contrasted Zelenskyy's leadership with the Polish authorities of 1939, whom he accused of fleeing during the German and Soviet invasions.

Ukrainian academic and historian Marta Hawryszko offered a critical counterpoint to Duda's praise. Hawryszko suggested that if Zelenskyy had not come to power, Ukraine might have avoided a full-scale war with Russia, the resulting hundreds of thousands of casualties, mass displacement, territorial losses, and economic ruin.