Polish politicians clash over rapid EU membership for Ukraine

Feb 25, 2026 | Politics, Society

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

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 Polish speaker of parliament’s announcement in Kyiv this week that Poland would help Ukraine join the European Union “as soon as possible” has prompted a backlash back at home, including from some allies within the ruling coalition as well as the president’s chief of staff.

Meanwhile, a newly published poll indicates that, although a large majority of Poles favour Ukraine joining the EU, most do not want an accelerated process.

This week, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the speaker of the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of Poland’s parliament, visited Kyiv to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, Czarzasty’s office announced that the Polish speaker had “assured [Zelensky] that Poland will do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine becomes part of the EU as soon as possible”.

“Ukraine’s security will be strengthened when it joins the EU,” said Czarzasty, noting that this would in turn bolster Poland’s security. “And that is why Poland will assist in the integration process.”

He revealed that the Sejm has signed an agreement with the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, “aimed at accelerating EU membership negotiations”. Poland “knows how to align national law with EU law and how to effectively utilise EU funds, and we can share this knowledge”, said Czarzasty.

 

Czarzasty is one of the leaders of The Left (Lewica), a junior partner in Poland’s ruling coalition, which is dominated by Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) party.

After Czarzasty’s comments, figures from another coalition partner, the centre-right Polish People’s Party (PSL), which enjoys uneasy relations with The Left, poured cold water on the speaker’s suggestion that Poland would help Ukraine enter the EU as quickly as possible.

“If Ukraine, in line with speaker Czarzasty’s announcement, were to join the EU, it would spell the death of Polish agriculture,” tweeted Piotr Zgorzelski, a senior PSL figure and a deputy speaker of the Sejm.

Much of PSL’s support comes from rural communities, where many are concerned by the impact that Ukraine’s entry to the EU could have on Polish agriculture.

Meanwhile, PSL’s leader, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who serves as deputy prime minister and defence minister, warned that Ukraine must meet the EU’s anti-corruption and rule-of-law requirements before being allowed to join.

He also spoke of the need to “protect the Polish and European markets”, in particular when it comes to agriculture, through a “transition period” when Ukraine joins, reports the Rzeczpospolita daily. But Kosiniak-Kamysz said he believes that Ukraine’s membership of the EU is “in Poland’s interest”.

He added that Ukraine must also “come to terms with history, commemorate the Polish victims in Volhynia”, before it is allowed to join. That is a reference to massacres of ethnic Poles by Ukrainian nationalists during World War Two, an issue that continues to cause tension.

Poland regards the massacres as a genocide; Ukraine rejects that label and still venerates some figures seen as responsible for the atrocities. Kosiniak-Kamysz previously warned, in 2024, that Poland would not allow Ukraine to join the EU until the issue is resolved.

Czarzasty’s remarks in Kyiv received an even stronger rebuke from the chief of staff of President Karol Nawrocki, who is aligned with the right-wing opposition and last year said that he was currently opposed to Ukraine joining both the EU and NATO.

“Czarzasty must have confused his functions,” Zbigniew Bogucki told Polsat News, suggesting that the speaker had no right to make such pronouncements on behalf of Poland. “Such statements jeopardise the reputation of the Polish state.”

The far-right Confederation (Konfederacja), an opposition group, also criticised Czarzasty’s remarks. One of its leaders, Slawomir Mentzen, warned that, “if Ukraine joins the EU, Poland will be the biggest loser”.

“Instead of going to Poland, money from Brussels will go to the much poorer Ukraine, where local oligarchs will steal it,” said Mentzen. “We will be exposed to competition from Ukrainian agriculture, from Ukrainian transport companies, and smuggling. All criminals will be able to come to Poland without any problems.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, who hails from Tusk’s KO party, said that “Ukraine has earned candidate status through its courage” but emphasised that Kyiv “must of course meet all conditions” required to join the EU, reported news website Onet.

Government spokesman Adam Szłapka likewise told Polskie Radio that Poland supports Ukraine’s accession, but warned that it will be “a difficult, very arduous, very long process…of Ukraine adapting, reforming, and changing to these European standards”.

Yesterday, during a visit of EU leaders to Kyiv, Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine “wants a fast track for membership” of the bloc, though European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasised that, for Brussels, setting specific timeframes is not possible, reports Euractiv.

Meanwhile, a new poll by Polish state research agency CBOS for the Dziennik Gazeta Polska daily published on Monday shows that a majority of Poles support Ukraine’s EU membership, though not through an accelerated process.

Overall, 69% favour Ukraine joining the bloc. However, only 12% say that this should happen “as soon as possible, even without [Ukraine] fulfilling all the accession criteria”, while 57% say it should only happen “no earlier than a few years from now” once Ukraine “meets all the conditions”.

Around one in five Poles (21%) believe that Ukraine should not join the EU at all. That figure rises to 47% among farmers.

However, a separate poll by the IBRiS agency last year found that only 35% of Poles believed that Poland should support Ukraine’s access to the EU, while 42% were opposed.


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: Piotr Molęczki/Kancelaria Sejmu (under CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pin It on Pinterest

Support us!