They sat. They deliberated.

With the gravity of a High Court session.

President Karol Nawrocki, the esteemed master of the Polish state, has found himself in a most precarious predicament. A matter of honours. A matter of prestige.

And, as always, a matter of bureaucrats.

It is whispered—indeed, reported by the Rzeczpospolita—that the President has not yet revoked the Order of the White Eagle from President Zelensky. Not out of kindness, mind you.

No.

It is a 'window of opportunity.'

A diplomatic pause.

He grants a few days. Not weeks. Days.

How very precise.

Our illustrious President wishes to demonstrate that he is not a slave to emotion, despite the accusations of his own party’s gentlemen. He is a man of reason. A man of method.

Or so the circulars would have us believe.

And what is the cause of this sudden chill in the air? A decree from Kyiv.

On the twenty-seventh of May, Mr. Zelensky saw fit to bestow the title of 'Heroes of the UPA' upon a unit of his army. He spoke of 'restoring traditions.' He spoke with passion.

He spoke, in short, exactly what the gentlemen in Warsaw found intolerable.

Outrage followed. Like a storm.

Politicians of all stripes rose in a chorus of indignation. Deputy Grzegorz Placek proposed the stripping of the medal. President Nawrocki, in a gesture of most refined agreement, has supported this notion.

Now we wait.

Waiting is the chief occupation of the state.

Will the resolution be signed? Will the medal be returned? Or will the 'public good' be served by a continued, silent tension?

One suspects the latter.

For in the world of high politics, a pause is often more meaningful than a proclamation.