Photo: EPA
The Czech political movement SPD (Freedom and Direct Democracy), part of the country’s governing coalition, wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be stripped of the Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic’s highest state honor, following a similar move in Poland, ČESKÉ NOVINY reports.
Jiří Reichl, leader of the PRO party and an SPD lawmaker in the Chamber of Deputies, said the initiative mirrors the decision by Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who revoked Zelenskyy’s Order of the White Eagle after the Ukrainian president named a special operations unit in honor of the UPA Heroes.
Reichl said SPD plans to raise the issue at the coalition council and wants the Chamber of Deputies to formally recommend that the Czech president revoke Zelenskyy’s award.
“We cannot remain silent when our highest state honor is held by someone who names military units after Nazi monsters,” Reichl said.
Zelenskyy received the Order of the White Lion in October 2022 from then-President Miloš Zeman.
At the time, Zeman said the award recognized Zelenskyy’s courage for rejecting an offer from the United States to evacuate and instead remaining in Kyiv during the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Presidential spokesperson Vojtěch Šeliga responded that neither the Czech Constitution nor existing legislation gives the president authority to revoke a state decoration.
According to him, a state honor can only be withdrawn following a final court ruling that imposes the additional penalty of losing honorary titles and awards.
Under Czech law, such a penalty may only be applied when a person is sentenced to at least two years of unconditional imprisonment for an intentional crime committed with particularly reprehensible motives.
The SPD proposal has drawn criticism from opposition politicians.
Benjamin Cinčila, a lawmaker from the Christian and Democratic Union, said he hopes representatives of the Motorists party and the ANO movement will reject the initiative. He added that his party would vote firmly against it.
Another Christian Democrat lawmaker, Václav Plateník, described the proposal as “a cowardly disgrace” that reflects SPD’s style of politics.
Meanwhile, Vít Rakušan, leader of the Mayors and Independents (STAN) movement, accused SPD of promoting hatred and said the initiative reflects the party’s political approach.
Deputy leader of the TOP 09 party Marek Ženíšek also condemned the proposal, suggesting that some SPD representatives appeared to be following instructions from Moscow.
Earlier, SPD leader and parliamentary speaker Tomio Okamura said he would immediately abolish temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic if the decision depended solely on him.
