Record number of Poles opposed to Ukraine’s EU membership

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Support for Ukraine joining the European Union has fallen sharply in Poland, with opposition reaching a record high of 40%, a survey carried out by the Polish state research agency CBOS shows. The figures show that 50% of Poles still support Ukraine’s EU membership, but that is a significant decline from 74% in October 2023, when the question was last asked, and from a record 90% in March 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The shift comes as public sentiment towards Ukrainians in general in Poland has deteriorated in recent years.

The latest CBOS poll shows that, among those who support Ukraine’s EU accession, most favour a gradual process, with 41% of all respondents saying Ukraine should join the EU but “without undue haste”. “Only 9% of respondents currently support Ukraine’s earliest possible EU membership, which is the lowest figure in the history of these surveys,” CBOS reported. Meanwhile, opposition to Ukraine’s EU membership has increased by 23 percentage points since October 2023, reaching its highest level in the history of CBOS surveys.

People with right-wing political beliefs are most likely to be opposed to Ukraine’s accession (53%), while the age group with the highest percentage of people opposed is those aged 18-24 (58%). Compared with the previous survey, however, pessimism has eased. The proportion of respondents who expect Ukraine to lose part of its territory fell by 8 percentage points, while the number expecting Russia to take control of the entire country declined from 8% to 6%.

On Western support for Ukraine, 39% of respondents said the military, financial and humanitarian assistance provided by countries in the West was sufficient. Meanwhile, 27% said aid was excessive, while 22% said it was insu…