Ukrainians become target of Poland's populist rhetoric — Politico
Photo: Poles' favorable view of Ukrainians has halved in three years (Getty Images)
Ukrainians in Poland are increasingly being attacked right on the streets, and far-right politicians are only fueling this hostility with their rhetoric in the run-up to the elections, according to Politico.
Why relations deteriorated
Polish nationalists are turning hostility toward the approximately 1.5 million Ukrainians living in the country into a political issue ahead of the 2027 parliamentary elections.
This summer, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country's highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle, due to the decision to name a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
The libertarian Confederation party condemned the provision of social assistance to Ukrainians. Member of the European Parliament Gregorz Braun stated:
"The Kyiv regime is neither our ally nor our friend, it is our enemy," Braun says.
Rafał Pankowski, a professor of sociology, noted that populist rhetoric has turned the Ukrainian minority into a target and contributed to the escalation of verbal hostility into violence.
Attacks becoming more frequent
According to a CBOS poll, Poles' antipathy toward Ukrainians has risen from 38 to 43 percent in just the last year. Polish police recorded 180 reports of ethnically motivated crimes against Ukrainians in the first half of the year—30 percent more than last year.
- In July, a 20-year-old Ukrainian woman named Anastasia and her partner Maksym were beaten in Wrocław; the attackers were arrested.
- That same month in Bielsko-Biała, a bus company employee became enraged over the presence of three Ukrainians on the bus, including two 11-year-old schoolgirls.
- In August, a Ukrainian man was attacked on a tram in Poznań.
From February through June, Polish prosecutors referred 283 cases to court, and Ukrainians were the victims in more than 80 percent of them—compared to 4 percent in 2014.
What Ukrainians and authorities say
Ivan, who works at the University of Warsaw, says that a neighbor lashed out at him over Zelenskyy’s decision regarding the name of a military unit:
"We were in the elevator. My neighbor started yelling at me, telling me to go back to Ukraine and explain to Zelenskyy that he shouldn’t have done that. It was absurd. Now I’m afraid no one would help me and that I would be accused of violating some law and simply deported," Ivan says.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk states that the attackers have become bolder because they feel they have political protection, and calls on Nawrocki to finally respond.
"We must wage a decisive fight against this violence, because the bandits, the hooligans, this violent pathology has gained courage and audacity because it has also received political patronage," Tusk says.
At the same time, Polish authorities are deporting Ukrainians even for minor offenses—one 18-year-old Ukrainian was expelled from the country for jumping over a barrier at a concert.
On August 1, in Kożuchów, Poland, unknown assailants attacked three Ukrainians who were relaxing near their car in the evening.
The conflict erupted over music, and the attacker shouted, "go back to Ukraine," then returned with a group of men. A fight broke out.
Meanwhile, on August 2 in Radom, eight Polish men brutally beat three young Ukrainians, whom a drunk Polish man had initially tried to give a “lecture on Volhynia.” The police arrested the organizer of the attack, who faces up to five years in prison.
