Far-right politicians in Poland have expressed their outrage at an alleged plan to give Ukrainians with Polish citizenship their own representation in Poland’s parliament.
Politicians from different far-right parties decry any notion of Ukrainians having their own representation in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament, with some even calling for a total halt to granting Polish citizenship to Ukrainians.
“Ukrainian media are announcing that Ukrainians in Poland will have their own representatives in the Polish Parliament,” Włodzimierz Skalik, MP for the far-right party Confederation of the Polish Crown, said in a Facebook post. “This is a very dangerous signal. Parliament is supposed to represent the Polish nation, not ethnic groups with special demands. Poland cannot be an arena for foreign influence. Stop the Ukrainisation of Poland!”
Similarly, Sławomir Mentzen, MP for the far-right New Hope party, complained in a post on X that many Polish politicians are already “pursuing Ukrainian interests”.
“We don’t need Ukrainian politicians in the Sejm on top of that,” he said. “Members of Parliament elected by Ukrainians will surely take care of Ukrainian interests. For us, Polish interests should be the most important! Let’s stop granting Polish citizenship to Ukrainians!”
Their posts and others like them reference news reports stating that approximately 80% of Ukrainians with long-term residence permits intend to apply for Polish citizenship, and that Ukrainians could be represented in the Sejm as early as 2027.
However, the government has no plan to bring in specific parliamentary representation for Polish citizens of Ukrainian origin.
Proposed law change
The confusion appears to stem from a Ukrainian article that refers to proposed changes to Poland’s Assistance to Citizens of Ukraine law, including one that would prolong citizenship requirements for foreigners.
Currently, they need to live in Poland for five years to get a permanent residence permit, and then live there for a further three years to be able to apply for citizenship, which comes with voting rights. The proposed change would extend the three-year period to 10 years.
The Cube reached out to Poland’s interior ministry, which clarified some of the other conditions required to obtain Polish citizenship. These include being able to speak the Polish language, having accommodation and sources of income, respect for Poland’s “legal order” and “not posing a threat to the defence and security of the state”.
“The granting of Polish citizenship is a constitutional prerogative of the President of the Republic of Poland,” a spokesperson for the ministry said in an email. “The President of the Republic of Poland is not limited in his constitutional powers by any conditions, including the time limit for considering the application, and may grant Polish citizenship to any foreign national at any time if he considers it justified.”
According to Polish law, people arriving in the country on humanitarian grounds, such as those fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion, can’t obtain a long-term EU residence permit, and the time spent in Poland via this channel doesn’t count towards the five years needed for a permanent residence permit.
Nevertheless, more and more Ukrainians are being recognised as Polish citizens, according to yearly government figures, and Ukrainians currently make up the largest immigrant group in Poland.
As of the end of August, the number of valid residence permits issued to Ukrainian citizens was more than 1.57 million, of which almost 1 million were registered as beneficiaries of temporary protection, the interior ministry told The Cube.
“The number of documents issued in connection with a permanent residence permit was almost 57,000, in addition to close to 46,000 documents issued in connection with a long-term EU residence permit,” it said.
As for the number of citizenship approvals, between January and June 2025, Polish authorities issued 5,512 decisions (concerning 7,513 individuals, such as in the case of minors considered as part of their parents’ applications) recognising Ukrainian nationals as Polish citizens.
The interior ministry added that 422 presidential resolutions concerning 529 individuals were also issued.
Far-right figures claim that the rate at which Ukrainians are being naturalised could lead to them influencing Polish politics at the expense of Polish interests, but the fears are unfounded, especially with potentially harsher citizenship requirements on the way.
