Speaking after talks with Ukrainian parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk in the southern town of Szczawnica on Monday, Czarzasty said Poland must think of its relationship with Ukraine over the long term.
"There is no safe Poland without a safe Ukraine," he said.
He cautioned that EU membership would require Ukraine to resolve historical disputes with Poland, adding: "The European Union is democracy, values — it is not just a cash machine". Poland, he said, should back Ukraine's reconstruction partly to serve the interests of Polish companies.
Czarzasty called the talks with Stefanchuk long, serious and at times difficult, but ultimately constructive. "At times pleasant, at times unpleasant, but above all honest", he said, adding that whoever was to blame for past friction, "these relations need to start being rebuilt". He proposed a standing communication channel between the two countries' parliaments to restore trust rather than deepen animosity.
The speaker stressed that political disputes should not poison relations between ordinary Poles and Ukrainians, warning against mutual hostility after years of Ukrainians living in Poland. "That will lead to nothing good", he said, noting bad behavior had occurred on both sides.
He pointed to Ukrainians' economic contribution in Poland, citing 2024 data showing they account for about 5% of the workforce and 2.7% of GDP, having paid PLN 5 billion (EUR 1.16 billion) in income tax, PLN 13 billion (EUR 3.02 billion) in social security contributions and PLN 3.8 billion (EUR 884 million) into the public health fund — against PLN 2.3 billion (EUR 535 million) in healthcare costs.
The meeting coincided with a two-week camp in Szczawnica hosting 45 Ukrainian children aged 10 to 15, many of them children or orphans of soldiers. Stefanchuk thanked Czarzasty for organizing the stay, saying it let children "whom Putin robbed of their childhood" experience what he called genuine childhood. The program includes sports, arts, education and trips to Kraków and Zakopane, with support from a child psychologist specializing in war trauma and a Polish-Ukrainian interpreter.
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Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Piotr Urbaniak