Polish city pledges action against violence amid attacks on Ukrainians

Wroclaw's City Council adopted a resolution condemning hatred and violence based on nationality following a series of incidents involving Ukrainians in the city, Polish media reported on Aug. 27.

The resolution declares that there is "no place, and there will be no place, in Wroclaw for attacks, humiliation or intimidation of anyone because of their origin, language, accent or nationality," and pledges to combat aggression, hatred, and intolerance.

"Everyone who has chosen Wrocław as their home and place to live is welcome here, regardless of ethnicity," the resolution added.

The measure follows several high-profile incidents in the city, including on July 26, when three men physically assaulted a Ukrainian couple, in an attack the police identified as nationality-based.

The debate grew heated after members of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party proposed an amendment calling for Ukrainian men of conscription age living in Poland to return to Ukraine.

Wrocław Deputy Mayor Ryszard Kessler criticized the proposal, warning that such rhetoric risked damaging the city's reputation and "bringing shame" on both Wrocław and Poland.

Supporters of the resolution argued that political and historical disputes between Poland and Ukraine cannot justify attacks against Ukrainians, while warning that portraying entire groups as a "collective enemy" can fuel hatred and violence.

Polish-Ukrainian relations have recently been strained by disputes over the legacy of the World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which is viewed in Ukraine as a resistance movement against Soviet rule but is chiefly associated in Poland with its role in the Volyn massacres, the mass killing of Poles in what is now western Ukraine.

Tensions intensified after Ukraine named a military unit after the UPA, a move that sparked widespread criticism in Poland and contributed to worsening Polish public attitudes toward Ukraine and Ukrainians.

The Polish police received 180 reports of hate crimes against Ukrainians in the first half of 2026, an increase of over 30% compared to the same period last year, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reports.

Poland currently hosts more than 900,000 people who fled Russia's full-scale invasion, the second-largest Ukrainian refugee population in the EU, and the country's largest ethnic minority.