Polish MEP demands ban on Ukrainians obtaining citizenship

Demands to restrict rights of Ukrainians

Polish MEP Ewa Zając-Chernik published a post on her X account calling on the government to take strict measures against Ukrainian immigrants. According to her, Poland must immediately cease granting citizenship to Ukrainian citizens and develop a mechanism for revoking already issued passports. In the politician's view, the aim of such steps is to prevent Ukrainians from "penetrating" the country's political system and exerting influence over it.

Reaction to Dmytro Kuleba's initiatives

The MEP's stance was a reaction to a previous call by former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. He urged Ukrainians residing in Poland and other countries to become a "political force" there. Zając-Chernik characterised these initiatives as a "potential threat to national security".

«Йдеться вже не про звичайну інтеграцію, а про чітко визначений план збільшення політичного впливу за допомогою українських іммігрантів» (This is no longer about ordinary integration, but a clearly defined plan to increase political influence using Ukrainian immigrants), she emphasised.

Fear of voting rights

The politician reminded that more than 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens legally reside in Poland. She expressed outrage that these people seek to obtain Polish citizenship, which would give them "voting rights and the ability to influence the fate of our country".

As an example, Zając-Chernik mentioned Deputy Minister of Science Andrzej Sheptytsky, who publicly declared himself a representative of the Ukrainian national minority.

Proposals for countermeasures

In her message, the MEP formulated specific demands to the authorities:

• cease issuing Polish citizenship to immigrants;
• introduce the possibility of revoking previously granted citizenship;
• resolutely oppose Ukraine's accession to the EU, as she believes this would only intensify the uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian immigrants.

«Ми маємо відреагувати на цей процес. Тому ми маємо припинити видачу польського громадянства іммігрантам, запровадити можливість відкликання раніше наданого громадянства та рішуче протистояти вступу України до ЄС, оскільки це лише посилить неконтрольований приплив українських іммігрантів» (We must react to this process. Therefore, we must stop issuing Polish citizenship to immigrants, introduce the possibility of revoking previously granted citizenship, and resolutely oppose Ukraine's accession to the EU, as this would only intensify the uncontrolled influx of Ukrainian immigrants), she wrote on X.

Statistics on Ukrainian workers in Poland

According to the latest data, Poland has recorded a new record number of working Ukrainians – 784,000 people. This accounts for approximately 68% of all foreigners employed in the country. The number of Ukrainian workers increased by 9.7% over the year, exceeding the previous record by approximately 15,000 people.

In total, 1,152,700 foreigners were working in Poland at the end of March. Their number increased by 8%, or 85,700 people, over the year. Compared with the end of February 2026, the number of foreign workers rose by 20,200 – an increase of 1.8%.