A recent SW Research survey reveals growing tensions after President Zelensky\u2019s naming decision, hinting at fragile Polish public opinion that could strain bilateral ties.<\/p>\n
President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s decision to name a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit after UPA heroes sparked a scandal in Poland\u2019s response and, according to the study, led to a deterioration in attitudes toward Ukrainians. The decision concerned the Center for Special Operations \u2018North\u2019 of the SSO of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Details: respondents were asked whether this decision affected their attitude toward Ukraine and Ukrainians.<\/p>\n
51.9% of respondents said their attitude toward Ukraine and Ukrainians had worsened. For 31.9% of those surveyed, this did not affect their views; 11.7% have no opinion on this matter, and 4.5% noted that their attitude had improved.<\/p>\n
Demographic breakdown of the impact<\/p>\n
As the data show, Zelensky\u2019s decision affected men the most \u2013 59% of them reported a deterioration in attitude compared with 46% among women. By age, the worst attitude toward Ukraine and its citizens was recorded among those under 24 years old \u2013 56%.<\/p>\n
Methodology of the study<\/p>\n
The study was conducted by the research agency SW Research among SW Panel online panel users on June 9\u201310, 2026. The sample included 800 Internet users aged 18 and over.<\/p>\n
Political context and reaction<\/p>\n
It is also worth noting that the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that President Volodymyr Zelensky did not intend to offend Poland by naming a Ukrainian unit after UPA heroes, but, in Tusk\u2019s view, the Ukrainian side lacks sensitivity.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/p>\n
The data highlight the sensitivity of the topic in interstate memorials and underscore the need for careful and responsible handling of symbols in bilateral relations. The results indicate that even symbolic decisions can influence neighboring perceptions and require dialogue between leaders to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and to foster trust between Poland and Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent SW Research survey reveals growing tensions after President Zelensky\u2019s naming decision, hinting at fragile Polish public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[88,101,9,8366,8367,8368,8369,8365],"class_list":["post-11405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-poland","tag-bilateral-relations","tag-news","tag-poland","tag-poland-poll","tag-polish-attitudes","tag-sw-research","tag-zelensky-upa","tag-zelensky-upa-poland-poll-polish-attitudes-sw-research-bilateral-relations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}