Neighborhood on the verge of fatigue: how the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainian refugees has changed in 2025

After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland became the main destination for those fleeing the war. Millions of Ukrainians crossed the border with the hope of finding temporary shelter, safe housing, an opportunity to regain strength, send their children to school, get access to medicine, and continue life in conditions as close to normal as possible. Since the beginning of the war, Polish society has demonstrated an unprecedented mobilization. In villages and cities, in universities, hospitals and schools, people opened the doors of their own homes, distributed humanitarian aid, and adapted social systems to the needs of millions of refugees. However, the situation in 2025 is significantly different from the atmosphere of 2022-2023.

Public support, although still high by European standards, is no longer unconditional. In the Polish public space, critical assessments, remarks, doubts, and sometimes even open irritation sound more and more often. These changes are recorded not only in social networks or political discussions, but also in the results of serious academic research. One of the latest reports, prepared by researchers at the University of Warsaw, shows that the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainian refugees is gradually changing from positive to reserved and critical, and in some groups, it is downright negative. About it on the air of Polskie Radio 24 stated Dr. Robert Stanishevsky, one of the co-authors of this study.

According to him, although the majority of Poles recognize the legitimacy of the stay of Ukrainians on the territory of Poland, there is a growing sense of irritation in society, caused primarily by the perception of Ukrainians as people with inflated expectations for help.

“Our respondents have the idea that Ukrainians believe that everyone owes them something. There are comments about social support, which is not perceived as help in trouble, but as a matter of course. The lack of gratitude on the part of the refugees themselves is even more sensitively perceived.” — noted Stanishevskyi.

There is also an increase in the number of Poles who believe that the presence of a large number of Ukrainians is beginning to pose certain threats. It is not only about domestic tension or economic competition, but also about the fear of a potential increase in crime, tension in the rental market, difficulties in education and health care.

At the same time, according to the study, more than half of the surveyed Poles see positive consequences in the presence of Ukrainian refugees — first of all, the filling of the personnel deficit in the labor market and additional revenues to the budget at the expense of taxes. At the same time, approximately 40% of respondents perceive these same factors as a source of threats.

This paradoxical result indicates an internal contradiction in Polish public perception: one part of society sees Ukrainians as those who save the Polish economy, while the other sees Ukrainians as those who displace local workers, burden the infrastructure and change social dynamics.

Attitudinal change does not occur at the same rates and forms across the country. As the researchers note, Poles who do not have direct contact with Ukrainian refugees show the most complaints. This means that a large part of prejudices is formed not from experience, but from political statements, news, fragmented stories in social networks.

It should be noted that a special regime of temporary protection was introduced at the state level, as well as an accelerated procedure for obtaining a PESEL identification number. Thanks to this, Ukrainians could officially work, send their children to kindergartens and schools, receive basic medical care and use a number of social programs.

According to the official data of the Polish PESEL database, in 2025, about 1 million Ukrainian refugees were registered in Poland. Most of them are women with children, pensioners and people of working age who have either already integrated into the Polish labor market or are at the stage of social adaptation.

This mass presence is the largest migration wave in recent Polish history. It changed the labor market, the school system, and local politics. At the same time, it gave rise to a wave of new social challenges: from the need to translate documents and educational programs to the redistribution of medical and housing resources.

The change of mood in Polish society is a warning. Poland remains a key ally of Ukraine, and this support is not limited to official meetings or humanitarian aid. It is based on trust, historical memory, shared experience of threats and crises. But any partnership requires mutual respect, adaptation and willingness to listen to each other.

For Ukrainians in Poland, this means the need for greater integration into professional, educational, public life, participation in local initiatives, and communication with Polish neighbors. For the Ukrainian state, it is an understanding that the diaspora needs not only rights, but also a clear communication strategy, institutional support, and mechanisms for responding to tension.

Without such an approach, even the strongest partnerships can weaken – not because of hostility, but because of fatigue, lack of attention and lack of systematic work.