Why Poles have grown more negative towards Ukrainians and how this can be changed

The level of unfriendly attitudes towards Ukrainians is rising rapidly in Poland.

At the same time, sociological data offers grounds for hope, pointing to a path towards the gradual improvement of relations between Ukrainians and Poles.

Read more in the article by Edwin Bendyk of the Board of the Stefan Batory Foundation (Poland): Overcoming the crisis: why relations with Poland are deteriorating and what could restart them.

The issue of assistance to Ukrainian immigrants living in Poland became one of the key topics during the 2025 presidential election campaign. It was Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of the liberal party, who proposed limiting the 800-zloty child benefit to cases where parents are employed.

This initiative did not help win the election, but it undoubtedly contributed to a shift in how the Ukrainian issue is approached.

Its political instrumentalisation, and appeals to the growing resentment within society, have ceased to be the exclusive domain of right-wing forces and have instead become a shared arena and a field of competition for new initiatives designed to demonstrate political "toughness."

At the political level, this shift is relatively easy to explain.

In such circumstances, liberal politicians refer to the theory of "taking the oxygen away" from the right and attempt to adopt themes close to right-wing rhetoric, hoping to attract the more moderate segment of the right-wing electorate.

Ukrainians constitute the largest group among immigrants in Poland, and for many Poles they have come to personify immigration as a whole – a process that generates anxiety. Moreover, Poland has very rapidly transformed from a country of emigration into one with one of the highest immigration growth rates in the world.

Any sociologist will explain that with such dynamics and the intensity of mass population movements, complex reactions inevitably arise within host communities. These reactions depend on many factors: conditions on the labour market, perceptions of cultural differences and access to public services and social benefits.

For several years now, sources of dissatisfaction among Poles have included not so much competition in the labour market as access to state services, especially healthcare and education.

Even more complex, however, is the broader issue of hostility towards financial assistance for immigrants, such as the 800-zloty payment per child.

Already during the 2023 parliamentary election campaign for the Sejm and the Senate, research conducted by the Stefan Batory Foundation showed a strong aversion in Poland to unconditional social benefits, often described as "handouts."

So what can be done to improve relations between the two nations rather than allow them to deteriorate further?

Research by the Mieroszewski Centre offers a clue.

There is a growing belief in Poland that Poland and Ukraine share common interests.

There is also a growing sense that serious threats exist to the relationship.

As a result, Poles increasingly recognise how much they have in common with Ukraine. This realisation can serve as a foundation for discussions about concrete issues, as well as specific solutions and actions.