Not welcome anymore? Ukrainian refugees in Poland
By Anna-Magdalena Glockzin, 3 minutes.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 6 million Ukrainians left the country because of the war. More than 1 million of them are seeking shelter in the neighbouring country of Poland, which is among the most vocal supporters for Ukraine. However, the relationship between Polish people and Ukrainian refugees became more complex over time. But more on that later, first the most recent developments.
On 23th of January 2025, the pro-European and centre-right PO (Civic Platform) party submitted a proposal that aims to cut benefits for immigrants and refugees, including Ukrainians. More specifically, immigrants would only be eligible for benefits (such as monthly child care) when they live, work and pay taxes in Poland. The party’s presidential candidate Rafał Trzaskowski submitted the proposal and stated: "Today, we still need to support Ukraine. However, we cannot make the same mistake as some Western countries, such as Germany or Sweden, where it was advantageous to come only for social benefits." Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, also a member of PO, expressed on X he is in favour of this proposal and that the government will look into it as soon as possible.
Refugees near Polish-border train station Przemyśl Główny
By Pakkin Leung, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115671734
Surprisingly, a similar proposal had also been submitted by the right-wing and nationalist PiS (Law and Justice) party, whose stances often diverge from those of the PO. Commenting on the development, Trzaskowski said that PiS, his “rival” party, sometimes can be reasonable, but accused them at the same time of stealing his idea for the proposal. In addition, the ruling coalition in Poland remains divided over this proposal. It consists of the PO party, the Third Way (grouping of the Poland 2050 party and the Polish People’s Party), and the Left. The latter especially voiced its criticism concerning the cut, stating that they will not support it.
But this is not the first instance of refugee issues dividing Polish politics: the discussion about cutting benefits for immigrants and refugees, also for those coming from Ukraine, has been centre-stage for months. In September 2024, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that European governments should stop paying benefits to Ukrainian men who are eligible for serving in the Ukrainian army. In his view, “there should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine.”
In general, the relationship has not always been easy between the Polish population and the Ukrainian refugees. Poland is not known to have a significant history of welcoming forced refugees, however, they accommodated the third largest number of Ukrainian migrants since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Of course, Poland is a neighbour of Ukraine and they both share history and culture as well as a tradition of Ukrainian migration to Poland since before the start of the full-scale war, with over 1 million Ukrainians already living in Poland.
Nonetheless, the sentiment shifted over time. In March 2022, 94% of the Polish population were in favour of taking Ukrainians in, while decreasing to 65% in September 2023. With the war dragging on, economic concerns and worries about access to health care grew larger within the Polish population, souring citizens’ attitude towards migrants. The PiS party plays a part in the shift as well, attempting to increase anxiety about potential threats to Poles posed by Ukrainians in the lead-up to the elections in October 2023. Moreover, this discussion takes place in the bigger context about migration and asylum policy throughout Europe with an increasingly harsh tone fuelled by the rise of far-right
