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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.
The proportion of Poles opposed to accepting Ukrainian refugees has risen to 46%, the highest level ever recorded in regular polling by state research agency CBOS.
The findings follow other recent surveys and political developments indicating that sentiment is turning against Ukrainian refugees, almost one million of whom still live in Poland.
In 2015, shortly after Russia began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, CBOS began asking Poles: “Should, in your opinion, Poland accept Ukrainian refugees from areas affected by the conflict?”
In the years 2015 to 2018, around 55-60% of Poles were consistently in favour, with around 30-40% opposed. The surveys then resumed in March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion. At that time, a record 94% supported accepting refugees, with only 3% opposed.
Since then, however, support has been gradually falling and opposition rising. In CBOS’s latest report, published today, 48% were in favour of accepting Ukrainian refugees and 46% were opposed.
“These are the worst results in the history of our survey, which began shortly after the annexation of Crimea over a decade ago,” note the authors of the report.
CBOS’s latest findings show that opposition to accepting Ukrainian refugees is more common in rural areas (59%) than in the largest cities (27%) and among people with the lowest level of education (62%) compared to university graduates (26%).
Likewise, people who practise religion (57%) are more opposed to receiving Ukrainian refugees than those who do not (38%), as are people with the lowest level of income (57%) compared to the highest earners (18%).
Support for accepting refugees is highest among voters of The Left (78%) and the centrist Civic Coalition (KO, 70%), two members of Poland’s ruling coalition.
Opposition is highest among the radical-right Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP, 69%), national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS, 61%) and far-right Confederation (54%), all of which are in opposition.
"We cannot allow Ukrainians" – Poland's largest immigrant group – "to have representation in parliament," warns far-right leader Sławomir Mentzen.
His remarks come amid discussion over toughening the criteria for foreigners to obtain Polish citizenship https://t.co/y86IbrfpcT
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 7, 2025
After the Russian invasion, millions of refugees from Ukraine fled to Poland. Many then moved on to other countries, while some eventually returned to Ukraine.
The latest EU data show that there are around 965,000 Ukrainian refugees still in Poland, second only to Germany (1.2 million). In relation to population, Poland (26.4 Ukrainian refugees per 1,000 people) also has the second-highest figure, behind the Czech Republic (36.0 per 1,000 people).
In addition, Poland has hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian residents not classified as refugees, who are largely economic migrants but also include students.
Ukrainian immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits, a report by Poland's National Development Bank has concluded.
The research also indicated that Ukrainians contribute between 0.5% and 2.4% to Poland's annual GDP growth https://t.co/KhXxLtif5W
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 15, 2025
Last year saw the issue of Ukrainian refugees in Poland become increasingly politicised, with KPP and its leader, Grzegorz Braun, in particular seeking to stir opposition to what they claim is the “Ukrainisation” of Poland. Confederation has used similar rhetoric.
Meanwhile, PiS-aligned President Karol Nawrocki was elected last year after pledging to reduce the amount of social support given to Ukrainian refugees, a promise he fulfilled in September after agreeing with the government on a new law barring foreigners who do not work from receiving certain benefits.
A variety of recent polls have indicated declining sympathy towards Ukrainians among Poles. In September, a United Surveys poll for Wirtualna Polska found that 37% of Poles negatively view the presence of Ukrainians in Poland, up from 29.5% two years earlier.
There have also been reports of physical and verbal attacks on Ukrainians. Last month, Ukraine’s foreign minister called on Poland to punish those who engage in xenophobic behaviour, following the case of a Ukrainian schoolgirl who was subjected to abuse at a Warsaw school.
Ukraine’s foreign minister has urged Poland to act against xenophobic behaviour towards Ukrainians following a bullying case at a Warsaw school.
"It is in our common interest to prevent and respond to such hostility,” said @andrii_sybiha https://t.co/LmHaycglpg
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 22, 2025
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: Silar/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
