The Czech right-wing populist party «Freedom and Direct Democracy» has called for Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be stripped of the Order of the White Lion. This followed a diplomatic row between Ukraine and Poland.
- The Czech SPD party is calling for Zelenskyy’s award to be revoked.
- The trigger was a dispute between Ukraine and Poland.
- The Czech Republic’s official response: the initiative is legally impossible.
- Czech politicians have condemned the far-right’s proposal.
- Zelensky was awarded the Order of the White Lion in 2022.
The far right are calling for the award to be revoked
The Czech right-wing populist party «Freedom and Direct Democracy» (SPD) has put forward a proposal to remove the President of Ukraine from office Vladimir Zelensky the Czech Republic’s highest state honour — Order of the White Lion. The movement’s leader, Jindřich Reichl, stated that the matter would be put before the Chamber of Deputies and the coalition council.
The catalyst for this initiative was the recent diplomatic row between Kyiv and Warsaw over the awarding of the honorary title «in the name of the Heroes of the UPA» to the «North» Special Operations Centre of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Against the backdrop of this decision, the President of Poland Karol Navrotskyi in June, he stripped Zelenskyy of his Polish citizenship Order of the White Eagle. The Czech far right decided to capitalise on this precedent, accusing the Ukrainian leader of «glorifying Nazi collaborators».
Prague’s official response
At the Office of the President of the Czech Republic Petra Pavel immediately rejected the proposal put forward by pro-Russian forces, describing it as legally impossible. An official spokesperson for the Czech head of state Wojciech Sheliga explained that neither the President nor Parliament has such powers under the law.
«Neither the Constitution nor the law grants the President of the Republic the power to decide on the revocation of state honours,» emphasised Sheliga.
Under Czech law, a court may order the revocation of an honour only if the person has been convicted of an intentional serious offence and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least two years.
Outrage in the Czech Parliament
The SPD’s statement drew sharp criticism from pro-government and centrist parties in the Czech Republic. Representatives of the Christian Democratic Party (KDU-ČSL) described the far-right initiative as a «cowardly disgrace» and «absurd», assuring that the Czech Parliament would never support such manipulations.
As a reminder, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was awarded the Order of the White Lion in October 2022 by the then President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman for the exceptional courage, leadership and heroism demonstrated following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
