![\"Polish](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776422306_556_large.jpeg\")
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Polish President Karol Nawrocki delivers a speech during Independence Day celebrations in Warsaw, Poland, 11 November 2025. Photo: EPA \/ Rafal Guz<\/p>\n
Polish President Karol Nawrocki pledged on Friday not to sign any further laws extending the special status enjoyed by Ukrainian refugees living in Poland after current legislation expires in March, Polish online news outlet Interia reported<\/a>, amid a recent period of tension between Warsaw and Kyiv. <\/p>\n The Polish government has allowed Ukrainian refugees broad access to the country\u2019s labour market, health care, education and welfare systems since 2022, but their preferential status has become an increasingly controversial one since the right-wing Nawrocki\u2019s inauguration as president in August. <\/p>\n Having signed a bill extending special measures for Ukrainians in September, Nawrocki said his country should stop adopting legislation that he described as \u201cunfair to Poles,\u201d and treat Ukrainians \u201clike any other minority\u201d in the country, a reference to the national minority status accorded to Poland\u2019s long-established ethnic Ukrainian population.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me stress, and I hope the prime minister and the parliamentary majority are listening, that this is the last I will sign a bill on assistance to Ukrainians,\u201d Nawrocki said at a rally celebrating his first 100 days in power.<\/p>\n Nawrocki, who narrowly won<\/a> Poland\u2019s presidential elections in May against a liberal candidate backed by Kyiv-friendly Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has been a consistent critic of Ukraine\u2019s efforts to secure NATO and EU membership. <\/p>\n At the start of November, Nawrocki accused<\/a> Kyiv of a \u201clack of gratitude\u201d towards Warsaw for its support and condemned the \u201cflooding\u201d of Poland\u2019s agricultural market with Ukrainian produce. <\/p>\n \u201cHelping Ukraine and taking a clear stance on whom we support in this conflict does not relieve me, as Poland\u2019s president, of the responsibility to insist that Poland\u2019s own issues be addressed in our relations with Ukraine,\u201d Nawrocki said.<\/p>\n This week, Nawrocki formally invited<\/a> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Warsaw and called on him to \u201cthank Poles for what they have done over the past three years to help Ukraine\u201d. <\/p>\n On Tuesday, as Poland marked its Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky extended his congratulations to Warsaw and voiced<\/a> his country\u2019s \u201cdeep appreciation\u201d for the support provided by Poland since 2022.<\/p>\n Poland, which the European Commission says<\/a> currently hosts about 1 million Ukrainians, has seen popular support for its neighbor drop substantially since the beginning of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n An October poll by Warsaw-based pollster CBOS found<\/a> that only 48% of Poles currently support accepting Ukrainian refugees, down from 94% in March 2022, with half of those polled agreeing that the Polish state is too generous toward Ukrainians.<\/p>\n