Presenting the annual review, deputy interior minister Czesław Mroczek said around 1.6 million people – mostly women and children – found refuge in Poland between February 2022 and the end of 2024, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He told MPs that about 70 percent of adult Ukrainians in Poland are now in work, a far higher rate than in several other EU states, including Germany (25 percent) and the Czech Republic (48 percent).
Most, he said, do not rely on social assistance.
"These changes have tightened the system, increased internal security and significantly reduced the cost of aid," the deputy minister said, referring to amendments to the emergency law adopted in March 2022.
According to government figures cited in the debate, in addition to the costs already detailed in the report, spending from special aid funds reached almost PLN 12 billion (EUR 2.85 billion) in 2022 and over PLN 8 billion (EUR 1.9 billion) in 2024.
At the same time, tax and social security revenues linked to Ukrainians’ economic activity have risen sharply.
In 2024 alone, Ukrainians generated an estimated PLN 5 billion (EUR 1.19 billion) in income tax, PLN 12.7 billion (EUR 3.02 billion) in social security contributions, and PLN 4 billion (EUR 950 million) in VAT receipts, the deputy minister said.
The special law guaranteeing Ukrainians legal residence, access to healthcare, benefits, work and schooling will remain in force until March 2026, after which refugees are to be covered by Poland’s general migration system.
The report won broad cross-party backing.
The conservative Law and Justice party said Poland had acted "as it should" in the face of Russian aggression, while governing coalition MPs praised what they called a historic show of solidarity.
Dorota Marek from the governing Civic Coalition (KO) said: "The dark scenarios pushed by populists – that unemployment would rise and the labour market would collapse – turned out to be fiction."
"Wise help proved to be an investment that pays back," she added.
Smaller coalition partners echoed that view, framing the policy as both a moral duty and a matter of national security.
Criticism came mainly from the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party, which argued that prolonged, large-scale support was coming at the expense of Polish citizens.
"This is not a dispute about empathy. It is a dispute about the hierarchy of loyalties," said Konfederacja MP Krzysztof Szymański, calling for aid to be scaled back.
Mroczek rejected those claims, accusing some critics of repeating "Moscow propaganda" and warning that supporting Ukraine was vital for Poland’s own security.
"If Ukraine falls, others will be threatened next," he said.
"This was a necessary and beautiful act – a sign of humanity and of understanding our shared interests," the deputy minister added.
Under the law, the government is required to present such a report to parliament every year.
The debate took place on a day when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was visiting Poland.
(ał)
Source: PAP