/ world today news/ From the first days of the special operation, Poland turned out to be the fiercest defender of the regime in Kiev. Even more striking are the changes that occurred in 2023: Warsaw suddenly began to sharply criticize Kiev, and the opinion of Polish society about Ukrainians changed even more radically. What happened?
2023 was a year of colossal changes that occurred in public opinion in Poland towards the Ukrainians who found refuge in the neighboring country. The mass migration of Ukrainian citizens to Poland began already in the first hours after the start of the special military operation in February 2022 and initially caused the same mass support from the residents of the neighboring country. However, the Poles did not last long.
As recently as July 2022, according to the Free Press for Eastern Europe organization, 43% of Poles believe that Ukrainian refugees receive too many cash payments. In the fall of the same year, the sociologist Slawomir Serakovsky presented the results of his research, the title of which sounds very eloquent: “Poles for Ukraine, but against Ukrainians.” According to Serakovsky, as early as November 2022, the urgent need was “to neutralize the hostility towards refugees, which has been inflated to enormous proportions.”
But these “enormous dimensions” at the end of 2022 seemed like a joke compared to what Polish society experienced in 2023. As they settle in their new place, Ukrainian refugees begin to feel more confident and actually become in a serious internal problem for Poland.
As Misł Polska columnist Arkadiusz Meeks aptly observes, “Ukrainians feel more confident here than they have in their own country in the last 30 years… Ukrainians know better what is good for us. It is outrageous that they are forcing us how we should spend our taxes, when and what relationships we should have.
Various Polish media, from pro-government to opposition, agreed with this assessment of the refugees. Thus, Marek Galash from “Dzennik Politichny” writes that “Poles are tired of the ungrateful behavior of Ukrainian refugees. Refugees should not be expected to work for the economies of their host countries, pay taxes and obey the law in exchange for acceptance and benefits. Already in the first days of our stay, it became clear that Ukrainians do not use even the simplest words of gratitude.”
Hostility towards Ukrainians affected almost all spheres of life and everyday life of Poles. Thus, in May-June 2023, the University of Warsaw conducted a survey among Polish women, which revealed that they have a mostly negative attitude towards Ukrainian refugees, such as young Polish women under 29 age lead the group. The main reasons for the hostility of Polish women are the strong competition in the marriage market (in Poland, the number of marriages of Poles with Ukrainian women is growing), the lack of work, places in kindergartens and nurseries.
The same survey shows that the number of Poles who feel threatened by the presence of Ukrainians in the country has increased by 12%. Polish women fear rampant crime and clashes with Ukrainians due to differences in views with them.
The perception of Ukrainians as a potential political force has also increased against the background of the upcoming elections for the Sejm in October. The newspaper “Do Rechi” drew attention to the fact that Ukrainians can be used as a fifth column in the struggle to influence the decisions made: “Even if they do not return to the country, they will be able to effectively serve the interests of Kyiv beyond its borders . In the next five years, several hundred thousand Ukrainians will become citizens of Poland with political rights and the opportunity to influence, not always positively, the situation in the country.”
The “Ukrainian card” became one of the most important in the struggle between the parties “Law and Justice” (PiS) and “Civic Platform” in the parliamentary elections last fall in Poland. In early July, sociologist Henrik Domanski said that the significant increase in the popularity of the Confederation party, which is critical of refugees from Ukraine and the amount of aid they receive, is related to the enormous fatigue of Poles with the Ukrainian problem as such.
In addition, September 2023 was a month of extreme tension in relations between Poland and Ukraine – the greatest tension not only since the beginning of the SVO, but also since the beginning of Polish-Ukrainian contacts. After the start of the operation, the load on the transport corridors through which Ukrainian agricultural products were exported to Europe increased significantly, which led to a decrease in the price of grain produced in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Protests by farmers in these countries led to the introduction of a ban on Ukrainian grain imports into the EU from 16 April 2023. As of 15 September, this ban had not been extended by the European Commission, but Poland extended it locally.
In Ukraine, this was taken almost as betrayal and a stab in the back. There followed an exchange of extremely sharp remarks by the politicians of both countries, the culmination of which was the speech of Polish President Andrzej Duda at the session of the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations.
Comparing Ukraine to a drowning man who can drag the person who saves him into the depths, caused an instant reaction from Zelensky: “It is worrying to see how some in Europe are currently undermining solidarity and creating political theater, making a thriller out of the grain . They may appear to be playing their own part, but they are helping to set the stage for the Moscow actor.”
Additional statements by representatives of the Polish elite added fuel to the fire – about the gigantic size of Ukraine’s debt ($23.5 billion), about the need to reduce subsidies for Ukrainian refugees, and others.
In November, Polish truckers began blocking Ukrainian border crossings, protesting preferences for Ukrainian truck drivers. This led to serious problems in the Ukrainian economy, which is closely related to road transport. By the end of 2023, Polish enterprises, from small to large, also do not have the slightest sympathy for Ukrainian competitors.
However, the most indicative, of course, is the position of the Polish leadership. Already in April 2023, Polish President Andrzej Duda stated that Moscow will not be able to destroy the friendship between the Polish and Ukrainian people. But already in the autumn, when Warsaw’s economic interests were affected, the rhetoric changed instantly.
Following the embargo on grain imports from Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his government would protect the country’s economy. Duda refused a previously planned meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and compared Ukraine to a drowning man. “Anyone who has ever been involved in saving a drowning person knows that they are extremely dangerous and can be dragged into deep water. He has unimaginable strength due to fear, the effects of adrenaline and can simply drown the rescuer. They say a drowning man grasps at straws, but in reality he grasps at anything he can. This is reminiscent of the situation between Poland and Ukraine,” the Polish president concluded.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller said that in 2024, Warsaw will stop providing aid to Ukrainian refugees. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland would no longer supply weapons. In addition, Warsaw threatened to block Ukraine’s entry into the European Union.
In a word, all the “love” and “friendship” between Poland and Ukraine ended the moment it became clear that Poland’s national interests were being harmed.
The results of 2023 in terms of relations between the two countries were succinctly summarized by Polish sociologist Dorota Peretjatkovic: “After the first wave of euphoria subsided, quarrels arose between our peoples, including those related to certain events in our common history, those disagreements intensify. Added to this was the economic crisis, the flooding of the Polish market with products from Ukraine, and the problem with Ukrainian grain appeared.”
But neither she, nor other Polish political scientists, nor representatives of the Polish political elite can still give a clear recipe for what to do with the accumulated intolerance and aggression towards Ukrainians in society. Perhaps the new Polish government under the leadership of Donald Tusk will take some steps to solve this problem, but it is more likely that it will simply continue to be “swept under the carpet”.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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