Benito Mussolini is long dead and Poland does not revoke the order posthumously, while Gerhard Schroeder "has never insulted the Polish nation as overtly as the Ukrainian president did," said Agnieszka Jedrzak, undersecretary of state at the Polish Presidential Office.
Zelensky opened up old historical wounds in Poland by honoring a Ukrainian military unit, prompting the Polish president to revoke his award. The two countries share the same views on the Russia-Ukraine war, but the situation could lead to unsettled, long-lasting tensions.