Resistance to supporting Ukraine in Poland is increasing. In particular, resentment is growing over immigration, despite the economy’s success in recent years thanks to Ukrainian labor. Bloomberg writes, reports UNN.

Details

In the social and political sphere of Poland, resistance to supporting Ukraine is increasing, which was impossible to imagine in 2022, when, against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale invasion, support for Ukrainians in Poland reached 95%. Currently, this wave is noticeably subsiding, which is confirmed by individual cases.

A man on a crowded tram in Warsaw started swearing when he heard Oleksandra Ivaniuk speaking Ukrainian with a friend, and no one in the carriage reacted. … He (the Pole) launched a tirade of verbal abuse. “Bald and in military camouflage,” he addressed his insults in Polish to the entire carriage, without even looking into the eyes of the two women.

– Bloomberg reports.

“Everyone could hear him, but what struck me most was that no one reacted,” recalls 39-year-old Ivaniuk, a scientist who has lived in the Polish capital for 15 years, long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

I realized that I didn’t have the courage to approach him myself, because I felt that there might be physical violence.

– the woman comments on the incident.

The incitement of resentment regarding immigration, which is currently characteristic of many European countries, tends to expand in Poland as well.

Bloomberg notes that a similar attack on the Ivaniuk family could have happened in many places. At the same time, this incident exposes changes in a country whose economy has flourished thanks to Ukrainian labor and is a major channel of Western aid to the Kyiv government’s war efforts.

Number of crimes against Ukrainians in Poland is growing: reasons named02.11.25, 09:03 • 5243 views

Reference

In 2022, a survey by the Warsaw sociological company CBOS showed that 94% of Poles wanted to accept Ukrainian refugees. A CBOS survey last month showed that this support was 48%.

Half of Poles now believe that the state benefits offered to Ukrainian arrivals are too generous.

Political statements of the top leadership of Poland regarding Ukraine

President Karol Nawrocki, who won an unexpected election victory earlier this year, defeating Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s candidate for head of state, expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s aspirations for NATO and European Union membership.

He and his allies in the opposition Law and Justice party accused refugees of skipping social assistance without waiting in line. In August 2025, Nawrocki vetoed a bill that extended their support.

Recall

On November 7, the Polish Sejm did not support President Karol Nawrocki’s bill on aid to Ukrainian refugees, as it duplicated the government’s already adopted version. The law adopted by the government extends the legal stay of Ukrainians until March 4, 2026, strengthening the requirements for financial assistance and social support.

Poland expelled 15 Ukrainians: details30.08.25, 13:26 • 5837 views