Poland’s PM says he won’t tolerate ‘anti-Ukrainian sentiment’

Every Polish patriot must understand the importance of backing Kiev in its conflict with Moscow, Donald Tusk said

Newly-installed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has insisted that he won’t tolerate any kind of “anti-Ukrainian sentiment” in the ranks of his government.

In the run-up to the election in October, the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) “tried to play an anti-Ukrainian note” to remain in power. Nothing of this kind will happen on his watch, Tusk said in an interview with TVN24 on Friday.

“I will never allow anyone in my government to build their position on some kind of anti-Ukrainian sentiment,” the pro-EU politician, who already headed the Polish government between 2007 and 2014 and used to be the president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, vowed.

Kiev needs the backing of Warsaw and the entire West because “as long as Ukraine is fighting Russia, we are relatively safe,” he explained.

“There can be no doubts about… our involvement and the involvement of the entire Western world in support of Ukraine... Every Polish patriot must absolutely recognize these reasons,” Tusk stressed.

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The PM called upon Europe to “rise to the occasion” and invest more money in assisting Kiev because Poland “won’t be able to cope financially” with such a task on its own.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s prime backers in the EU after the outbreak of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, supplying Kiev with arms, accepting around 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees, and consistently advocating for more sanctions on Moscow.

However, a falling out between the neighbors occurred in September 2023 after Ukraine filed a now-suspended complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Poland and some other EU states for banning Ukrainian grain deliveries. The PiS government in Warsaw said it would focus on Poland’s own security and would not be sending weapons to Ukraine anymore, except for some old, decommissioned ones.

Polish truckers continue to block border crossings with Ukraine in protest against the EU’s decision to exempt their Ukrainian counterparts from needing permits to enter the bloc.

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When addressed on the issue, Tusk acknowledged that “there is a second dimension” in relations between Warsaw and Kiev. “The Poles want to help Ukraine, but they can’t be harmed by the Ukrainians,” he explained.

The PM said that he will visit Ukraine in the coming days and, among other things, discuss ways to resolve what he called “pathological situations” on the border.