Polish opposition accuse Zelensky of “interfering” in presidential election in favour of government candidate

Jan 16, 2025 | History, Politics

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Figures from Poland’s main opposition party, the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), have criticised Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky after he used his visit to Warsaw to aim apparent criticism at PiS’s presidential candidate and present an award to the main ruling party’s candidate.

They have accused him of “brazen interference” in the campaign for May’s presidential election.

Last week, Karol Nawrocki, whose bid for the presidency is supported by PiS, said that he “does not envision Ukraine in the EU or NATO” until it resolves issues relating to the Volhynia massacres, in which Ukrainian nationalists killed around 100,000 ethnic Poles during World War Two.

That prompted an angry response from Kyiv, where the foreign ministry immediately issued a statement accusing Nawrocki of making “manipulative” and “unacceptable” claims that “contribute to the hostile efforts” by Russia to “destroy Ukrainian-Polish friendship and mutual understanding”.

On Wednesday, during a visit to Warsaw to meet with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda, Zelensky addressed Nawrocki’s remarks when asked about them by the Polish media.

 

“If Ukraine is not in the EU and is not in NATO, if Ukraine does not have a guarantee of security, then Mr Nawrocki should start training already, because it may turn out that he will have to take up arms to defend his country together with his compatriots,” said the Ukrainian president.

“After Ukraine, Russia will be on Poland’s border and then [Nawrocki] will not have political contests, he will be fighting for his life,” continued Zelensky.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky had met with Rafał Trzaskowski, who is the mayor of Warsaw but also the presidential candidate of Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO). Zelensky presented Trzaskowski with an award from Ukraine to the city of Warsaw in gratitude for supporting Ukrainian refugees.

The Ukrainian president’s words and actions during his visit prompted criticism from PiS politicians, who accused him of interfering in the campaign for May’s presidential election.

“Volodymyr Zelensky is brazenly engaged in the election campaign in Poland on the side of the pro-German Rafał Trzaskowski and attacks Karol Nawrocki, who is a Polish politician and defends Polish interests,” tweeted PiS MP Janusz Kowalski. “There is no place for Ukraine in the EU.”

“Scandal is an understatement,” wrote Sebastian Łukaszewicz, another PiS MP. “Mr Zelensky, please get a grip, apologise to Karol Nawrocki and finally sort out the Volhynia issue. A Ukrainian comedian cannot interfere in the Polish presidential elections.”

Trzaskowski himself was also asked about Zelensky’s remarks and whether they constituted him taking sides in the ongoing election campaign.

“Above all, I would like no one in Poland to get involved in the campaign on Putin’s side,” said Trzaskowski, quoted by the Rzeczpospolita daily. “Let’s be honest and straightforward: anyone who says at the moment that Ukraine should not be in NATO is actually supporting Putin.”

“Putin is trying to convince everyone in Europe that Ukraine should not be in NATO or the EU,” he continued. “I am not surprised by [Zelensky’s] words that if someone says otherwise, they should prepare for war. And no one in Poland wants to prepare for war.”

Nawrocki himself has insisted that he stands by his words regarding Ukraine. He says that, while he has “a sense of deep solidarity with Ukraine” in its defence against Russian aggression, he cannot envision it joining Western institutions until it addresses the legacy of the Volhynia massacres.

Last week, Tusk announced a “breakthrough” on the issue of exhuming victims of the massacres, tens of thousands of whom remain buried in unmarked mass graves in Ukraine. He said that a decision had been made to allow exhumations to take place.

Media reports had suggested that Zelensky’s visit to Warsaw would see further details or statements on the issue. However, the Ukrainian president said very little on the subject, only mentioning that the two countries are working towards a solution.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: ZelenskyyUa/X

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