European Central: Ukrainian Invasion Personal For Poland
Due to Putin’s war in Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians have fled the country. A majority headed to Poland, while smaller amounts moved to Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Belarus, and even Russia. It is clear however that most prefer Poland, even as Poland is starting to become overwhelmed with typically 80,000-100,000 crossing the border a day. While Poland is becoming overwhelmed, the problem is many Ukrainians may appear to prefer to stay in Poland rather than leave for elsewhere. A train leaving for Hannover, Germany had 400 seats but only 100 chose to leave. Poland is closer culturally to Ukraine than other European countries such as Germany, making it easier to find comfort with being in Poland. Over 1 million Ukrainians were already living in Poland before the war. Poland is also the largest supporter of Ukraine within the European Union, evident from a Kantar Poll. 87 percent of participants responded that they consider Ukraine a European country. Ukrainians also view Poland positively, and in a poll it leads foreign countries Ukrainians see in a positive light. This can help explain why over 2 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland, of the 3.3 million who have so far left Ukraine.
Polish have generously opened their homes but fortunately, the government has released details of how citizens and businesses will be supported in their efforts to help Ukrainian refugees. For those housing Ukrainians, they will be paid 8 euros per person to cover expenses. This does require however an application that must be filled out with the local administration. Ukrainian children are allowed to enroll in Polish schools and adults who came to Poland after February 24th are allowed to work in Poland. NGOs also have a major role in assisting refugees with the help of volunteers. Besides these benefits however provided by the government, similarities between the two countries act as a magnet in pulling Ukrainians toward Poland.
One of the most important similarities between Poland and Ukraine is language. Both Polish and Ukrainian are Slavic languages, although Ukrainian is considered an Eastern Slavic language and Polish is a Western Slavic language. At the same time, both languages share similarities due to Poland and Ukraine both being part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During this time the Ukrainian language was influenced by Polish. However a major difference between the two is that Polish uses the Latin script meanwhile Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic script. Looking at the countries that Ukrainians can flee to westward however, the only countries that Ukrainians can move to that use Cyrillic are Serbia and Bulgaria. Serbia however has close ties with Russia and appears nervous to take a stance against Russia which can serve as a strong deterrent for Ukrainian refugees. Bulgaria is a significantly smaller country than Poland and also weaker economically leaving Bulgaria with less capability to assist. Polish is still an easier language to learn than other languages such as German because both Polish and Ukrainian have a similar grammar structure. The lexical distance between Polish and Ukrainian is 30, smaller than that between Ukrainian and Russian which is 38.
Another similarity is the difficult history that Poland and Ukraine have had with Russia. Both countries were wiped off the map by the Russian Empire and shortly after the Soviet Union. There was an attempt to Russify both nations and during periods of history the Polish and Ukrainian languages were suppressed in favor of Russian. Looking specifically at Ukraine, the eastern portion of the country was ruled by the Russian Empire longer than the western portion which was first ruled by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This helps explain why Eastern Ukraine still views Russia favorably, while Western Ukraine looks toward the European Union. There are more Russian speakers in Eastern Ukraine as well as well due to Russia having a longer time to Russify it under direct rule by settling Russians in this portion of the country. Despite all these efforts however the majority of Russian speakers in Ukraine identify as Ukrainian, apart from a majority of Russian speakers in Crimea.
Karolina Zebrowska, a Polish youtuber based in Krakow who usually discusses fashion, made a video updating people about the situation in Poland. Due to the shared soviet past, there is a lot of similarities in architecture and the Polish can envision their own towns being bombed. Soviet-era housing still stands in both countries, and due to the effort to provide cheap housing buildings are often devoid of ornamental details. This allows soviet era buildings to easily blend in with each other and allow Polish people to imagine Poland being attacked instead of Ukraine. Ukrainians were already working in Poland before the war and have become a part of Polish society and Poland’s largest group of foreigners working in the country. Karolina and other Polish see daily the impact and stress this is having on Ukrainians living in Poland unsure of whether friends and family back home are safe. This can help explain the large support the Polish have showed to Ukrainians particularly with donating necessary everyday goods. As Karolina describes, Krakow had to cancel a collection of goods after the first day because there was no more room to store additional donations. The main thing she feels which prevents this from happening is the border between Poland and Ukraine.
Because of this border, Polish citizens know they are protected by NATO membership while Ukrainians are not. This has allowed for more stability in the country and quickly improving the quality of life for the Polish, while Ukraine has suffered from Russia trying to keep Ukrainians in its sphere of influence. Poland has enjoyed faster economic growth and higher wages since joining the European Union than Ukraine as well. Due to several political revolutions along with lacking EU membership, Ukrainian economic growth has been slower.
While some may be shocked by Ukraine’s determination, looking back at the history of the country with Russia can give a glimpse of its determination to not back down. It also explains the strong bond with Poland and why the government and citizens are so determined to assist in any way they can. It is clear however that Poland will need help from the European Union in what has become the newest migration crisis for the bloc. Besides Poland, Romania and Hungary will need help as well. Eastern Europe is still working on convergence with Western European Union member states and cannot cope with the large wave of Ukrainian migrants alone.
