Former Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller has urged the government to deport Ukrainian activist Natalya Panchenko after she warned that rising hostility toward Ukrainians in Poland could lead to violence, including arson attacks on homes and stores.
Her comments, made while campaigning against social benefit cuts for Ukrainian migrants, sparked outrage online, with many Poles viewing them as a veiled threat—especially given Poland’s extensive aid to Ukraine.
Speaking to Radio Zet on February 6, Miller criticized Panchenko’s remarks, saying security services should interrogate her over potential knowledge of planned attacks or interference in Poland’s upcoming presidential election. He accused her of trying to pressure Poland into maintaining full support for Ukraine by suggesting dire consequences otherwise. “This can’t be taken lightly,” he said, calling for her deportation.
Panchenko is associated with the Open Dialog Foundation and Warsaw Euromaidan, both of which opposed Poland’s previous conservative government. Open Dialog, in particular, has faced accusations of links to Russian financing.
With Poland’s presidential election set for May, the debate over Ukrainian migration is already a hot topic. Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, a candidate for Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition, has proposed limiting child benefits for Ukrainians to only those who work and pay taxes. Meanwhile, opposition PiS candidate Karol Nawrocki has argued that Ukraine shouldn’t be allowed into the EU or NATO unless it stops honoring nationalist paramilitaries responsible for massacring Poles in World War II.
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Poland has taken in hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, granting them full access to work, benefits, healthcare, and education. Initially, Polish families, local authorities, and the Catholic Church played a major role in housing and supporting them. But as public sentiment shifts and political tensions rise, the future of Poland’s policies toward Ukrainian migrants remains uncertain.
