Half of Poles oppose Ukraine's accession to EU and NATO until exhumations issue is resolved

Half of Poles believe that Ukraine should not be able to join NATO or the European Union without resolving the problematic issue of exhumations of victims of the Volyn tragedy. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]

Poles were asked in the IBRiS survey for Rzeczpospolita whether Ukraine should become a member of NATO and the EU without resolving the issue of exhumations of victims of the Volyn tragedy.

A total of 27.7% of respondents "strongly disagree" with Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO without resolving this issue, and 22.5% "rather disagree" with this.

Rzeczpospolita adds that "the group that puts forward this condition is dominated by opposition supporters. These are mainly viewers of the Respublika TV channel".

Another 20.4% of respondents "rather agree" with Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, even if it doesn’t resolve the issue of exhumations. 14.4% of respondents "strongly agree".

Among all respondents, 15% were undecided.

The survey was conducted on 24 and 25 January 2025 using the CATI method on a sample of 1,071 people.

Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, supported by the largest opposition party Law and Justice, previously stated that he did not see Ukraine in either the EU or NATO.

"A country that cannot answer for a very brutal crime against 120,000 of its neighbours cannot be part of international alliances," Nawrocki said.

Instead, the mayor of Warsaw and the government's presidential candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski, supported Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO.