Has Poland fallen out of love with Ukraine?

Why has anti-Ukrainian feeling been growing in Poland? In 2022, when President Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Poland opened its doors and the Poles their hearts to Ukrainian refugees. Millions of Ukrainians passed through Poland, getting all kinds of help from local people and from the Polish government. Many stayed. But there has been a dramatic change in feelings towards Ukrainians, particularly in recent months. From a “love” of their neighbours, according to opinion polls, today more than half of Polish people express anti-Ukrainian sentiments. Cases of Ukrainians receiving verbal and physical abuse, both online and in real life have risen significantly. Polish military support for Kyiv remains vital. So why has this downturn happened and what could the consequences be? Does the answer lie in compassion fatigue or are there more sinister things going on? What role is dis-information online playing? And what about nationalist politics on both sides of the border?

(Photo: A hand waving a red and white Polish flag and a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag in Warsaw. Credit: Marek Antoni Iwanczuk/Getty Images)

Producer/presenter: John Murphy
Fixer and translator: Grzegorz Sokol
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: James Beard
Editor: Penny Murphy