In Poland, anti-Ukrainian sentiment is much weaker than pro-Ukrainian sentiment. This is how Polish sociologist, political analyst, and publicist Sławomir Sierakowski assesses the internal state of Polish society. One piece of evidence for this is the large amount of donations from Poles in support of Ukraine. It was Sierakowski who initiated the fundraising campaign for a Turkish Bayraktar drone in the summer of 2022. Over 200,000 Poles contributed money to buy the drone. In the end, the Turkish weapons manufacturer provided the drone free of charge, and the collected funds were redirected to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

Over nearly four years of the full-scale war, Sierakowski has led several fundraising campaigns to support Ukraine. Each time, the required sums were collected much faster than before. In total, he has raised over 15 million euros through his social media channels. Sierakowski emphasizes that Poles support Ukrainians not because they are extraordinarily kind people, but because of Russia. He urges Poles to remember that Russia without Ukraine cannot be an empire and cannot pose a major threat to Poland. Russia with Ukraine, however, will always be a tremendous danger to them.

“If you want your children to speak Polish on Polish streets — stop talking about Volhynia and start talking about a strategic alliance between Poland and Ukraine. If you want them to speak Russian — no problem, keep talking about Volhynia, about the partitions of Poland, and about Bohdan Khmelnytsky,” says the political analyst.

Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk speaks with Sławomir Sierakowski about Polish attitudes toward Ukrainians, the influence of populism and the reasons behind Karol Nawrocki’s victory, Poland’s relations with the Republicans and the best time to work with the Democrats, the place of Ukrainians in Poland, and why Warsaw should become Ukraine’s advocate.

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