Polish President-elect Karol Nawrocki has voiced his opposition to Ukraine’s bid for membership in the European Union, signaling a shift in Warsaw’s approach to Kiev amid the ongoing war with Russia.
Nawrocki narrowly won Poland’s presidential election last week, defeating Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski with 50.89% of the vote. In an interview with Hungarian magazine Mandiner, Nawrocki said, “At the moment, I am opposed to Ukraine’s accession into the European Union.”
He also pledged to defend Poland’s agricultural sector from what he described as unfair competition from Ukraine. For several years, Ukraine benefitted from a free trade regime with the EU, which farmers in Poland and neighboring countries argued allowed a flood of low-cost Ukrainian agricultural products—especially grain—into their markets. On June 4, the European Union reintroduced trade duties on certain Ukrainian goods.
While Nawrocki continues to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, he emphasized that such support must align with Polish national interests. He has also been outspoken about unresolved historical tensions between the two countries, particularly the Volyn Massacre of 1943. The massacre, which took place in what is now western Ukraine under German occupation, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 50,000–100,000 ethnic Poles at the hands of Ukrainian nationalists.
Nawrocki has called for the exhumation of the massacre’s victims and for Ukraine to officially recognize the event as a genocide. One of the primary actors in the massacre, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), was led by Stepan Bandera—a controversial figure in Polish-Ukrainian relations who is revered in Ukraine, where numerous monuments have been erected in his honor. Bandera collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
Poland has long tied its support for Ukraine’s EU and NATO ambitions to Ukraine’s willingness to confront and acknowledge the Volyn Massacre as a genocide.
Nawrocki is also a known critic of Russia and is currently wanted by Moscow for participating in the removal of Soviet-era memorials and statues across Poland.