Elżbieta Witek, who leads Poland’s lower chamber, the Sejm, and Tomasz Grodzki, the Speaker of the Senate upper house, received the honour in the Croatian capital Zagreb on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
They visited Zagreb for a parliamentary summit of the Crimean Platform initiative, which is taking place from Monday to Tuesday, according to officials.
The Crimean Platform brings together countries that support Ukraine’s bid to liberate the Crimea peninsula from Russian occupation, reporters were told.
Ukrainian state honour for Polish parliamentary Speakers
At a ceremonial dinner in Zagreb on Monday, the Speaker of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, presented the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, II degree, to Poland’s Witek and Grodzki, as well as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the Lithuania’ Seimas parliament, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, the Speaker of the German Bundestag, Baerbel Bas, the head of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, parliamentary speakers from Norway, Ireland, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Latvia and Estonia, and the host of the summit, the Speaker of Croatia’s Sabor parliament, Gordan Jandroković, the PAP news agency reported.
The Ukrainian national honour was conferred on them by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, officials told reporters.
Poland's Grodzki said afterwards: “I treat it as an extraordinary honour - working for an independent Ukraine, we are doing it from the heart, from the need to support the heroic Ukrainian nation.”
He added: “This mark of appreciation fills us - all of us who have been decorated - with enormous pride and spurs us on to further efforts.”
The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
Established in 1995 by Ukraine’s then-President Leonid Kuchma, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise is granted for service to Ukraine, including its international standing, and can also be conferred on foreigners.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the order has been granted to several of Poland’s top politicians, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, during their visit to Kyiv in June, the PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 244 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, tvpparlament.pl, sejm.gov.pl, senat.gov.pl