Anti-Ukrainian sentiment is on the rise in Poland
In Poland, anti-Ukrainian sentiment is on the rise against the backdrop of the presidential elections in May this year. This was reported by the American news agency Associated Press.
,,Let’s face it: the attitude of Polish society towards Ukrainian refugees has changed quite a bit”, noted Piotr Dlugosz, professor of sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
It is noticeable that, against the backdrop of the electoral struggle, some candidates have begun to use anti-Ukrainian rhetoric in an attempt to gain the support of voters. According to opinion polls, the feeling of solidarity with Ukrainians among Poles has decreased from 94% in February 2022 to 57% in December 2024.
On May 1, in the Polish city of Biała Podlaska, an assistant to presidential candidate and member of the European Parliament Grzegorz Braun removed the Ukrainian flag from the city hall during a protest.
The man, after removing the Ukrainian flag from the building, gave it to Braun. Everything happened to the applause of the crowd.
The presidential candidate said that he takes responsibility for what happened, since he himself asked his assistant to remove the flag from the city hall. Meanwhile, local authorities have already launched an investigation. Many Polish officials condemned this action, calling it an attack on an administrative building.
For his part, Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, condemned the incident, saying it represented ,,a deliberate provocation directed against Polish-Ukrainian friendship’’.
