From Sympathy to Strain: Germans and Poles Tire of Ukraine Influx

Political pressure is growing in the two countries that have taken in the most Ukrainian refugees since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, backed by increasingly frustrated citizens, for rights to be reduced.

In Germany, the AfD this week called for an end to citizens’ benefits for Ukrainian refugees, criticising the fact that they are handed out “immediately” upon arrival.

Poland’s right-wing Konfederacja party went a step further, arguing, “​​Now that the [Ukrainian] borders are opening, it’s time for those already here to return and fulfil their duty to defend their homeland.”

Poland cannot be a social base for deserters! We should not allow Ukrainians of military age into Poland!

This demand is hardly surprising, given recent polling that suggests 50% of Polish citizens oppose accepting Ukrainian refugees. The same proportion apparently believe their country is providing too much assistance to Ukraine.

Here and in Germany, news earlier this month that many Ukrainian refugees who have fled to EU countries to escape the war won’t want to return once the conflict is over has been received especially badly.

Politico noted on Wednesday that the latest “steep influx” of refugees from Ukraine into both Germany and Poland has triggered a backlash. A senior figure from Friedrich Merz’s CDU even told the publication, with words that echoed the sentiment of Poland’s Konfederacja, that “we have no interest in young Ukrainian men spending their time in Germany instead of defending their country.”

Berlin-based journalist Paul Hockenos also wrote in Foreign Policy on Tuesday that Central Europe has “compassion fatigue” after almost four years of hosting Ukrainian refugees. He said that while refugees “tell mostly of great generosity and aid, from both citizens and states…

With increasing frequency, Ukrainian citizens living in Central Europe are recounting incidents of sporadic hostility from the native-born.