“Over the past six months, Poles’ attitudes toward Ukrainian refugees have deteriorated slightly again, continuing the trend observed with only short breaks since mid-2023,” wrote sociologist Dr. Jonathan Scovil from the Migration Research Centre at the University of Warsaw, in the analysis.
“The share of voices supporting their reception is the lowest, while the share of opposing voices is the highest since we have been monitoring this issue, that is, since the Russian annexation of Crimea. The long-standing majority of support, which has persisted over the past decade, has now become minimal,” the analysis notes.
“In Polish society, there is also a prevailing belief that the aid our country provides to Ukrainian refugees is too generous, although only a slightly smaller proportion of respondents considers its scale appropriate,” the expert explains.
In his view: “Most Poles also believe that benefits and services such as the 800+ program or free healthcare should be available only to those Ukrainians who work and pay taxes in Poland.”
More than half of Poles still think that, regarding the war, the main goal should be achieving peace, even at the cost of territorial concessions, although the share of such declarations has slightly decreased.
At the same time, the proportion of people convinced of the need for continued, uncompromising resistance against Russia has increased slightly, yet the majority favouring the first approach remains clearly dominant. Poles’ expectations regarding the end of the war have changed only slightly.
“Although the majority still assumes that Ukraine will have to give up part of its territory, the share of such opinions has slightly declined over the past six months. The proportion of forecasts favourable to Ukraine - assuming a withdrawal of Russian forces from areas occupied since 2022, and even since 2014 - has remained almost unchanged. However, the share of ‘Hard to say’ responses has increased,” the survey finds.
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Source: CBOS