A Ukrainian who had entered Poland from Germany carried out a stabbing attack last week<\/p>\n
Poland should tighten its border controls following a deadly knife attack by a Ukrainian national, former Polish Deputy Prime Minister and current Law and Justice (PiS) MP Henryk Kowalczyk has said, warning that the killing could fuel another wave of anti-Ukrainian sentiment.\u00a0
\nA 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen attacked five people at a Catholic abbey in the southeastern city of Jaroslaw on Thursday, killing a priest and injuring four others, according to Polish officials. The suspect, who according to investigators had entered Poland from Germany overnight and was apparently heading toward the Ukrainian border, was detained at the scene. Prosecutors are investigating the circumstances and motive behind the attack.
\n\u201cThis will certainly trigger another wave of hostility toward Ukrainians,\u201d Henryk Kowalczyk, an MP with the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, told Polish Radio\u2019s Jedynka on Friday.
\nThe lawmaker stressed that politicians should not inflame anti-Ukrainian sentiment, but added: \u201cWe are talking about the facts. People draw their own conclusions: a Ukrainian killed a Polish priest and injured many people. There is no need to fuel anything here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Ukrainian soldier behind deadly Polish convent stabbing attack \u2013 RIA<\/p>\n
Kowalczyk argued that the incident should prompt Warsaw to step up border controls, reiterating that the suspect had entered Poland from Germany.
\n\u201cWe do not control the German-Polish border at all,\u201d he said, contrasting Warsaw\u2019s approach with Berlin\u2019s selective checks. Poland \u201ccannot accept all migrants who ended up in Germany and then enter our country,\u201d he argued.
\nThe MP also said that punishing the attacker was not enough, urging the Polish authorities to draw broader conclusions from the deadly incident.
\n\u201cThis is a signal that we should check people in advance, rather than just say that we will punish them severely,\u201d he said.
\nThe attack comes as Polish attitudes toward Ukrainian migrants have deteriorated sharply. A July survey by polling agency CBOS found that, for the first time since it began tracking the issue, a majority of Poles opposed accepting them, with 52% against and 42% in favor. Support had stood at 94% shortly after the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Attacks on Ukrainians in Poland growing \u2013 envoy<\/p>\n
Another CBOS poll published in September found that the share of Poles who believe reconciliation with Ukrainians is possible had fallen to a record low of 53%, while 38% said it was impossible.
\nKiev\u2019s ambassador to Warsaw, Vasily Bondar, said earlier this week that attacks and acts of aggression against Ukrainians had risen by around 30% in the first half of 2026, as public attitudes toward refugees continued to sour. He said Polish police had recorded 180 such incidents during the period, compared with 275 throughout 2025.
\nRelations between Warsaw and Kiev have also been strained by historical grievances. Tensions escalated after Ukraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which Poland holds responsible for massacres of Polish civilians during World War II.
\nPolish President Karol Nawrocki subsequently stripped Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland\u2019s highest state honor, citing the decision to honor the UPA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Ukrainian who had entered Poland from Germany carried out a stabbing attack last week Poland should tighten its border controls following a deadly knife attack by a Ukrainian national,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t