Artur Bartkiewicz: Russia is Already Winning the Battle for Minds with Us. We May Pay for It.

Russia appears to be succeeding in its "battle for minds" concerning Ukraine, a sentiment increasingly reflected in Polish public opinion, according to Artur Bartkiewicz writing for Rzeczpospolita. A stark indicator of this shift is a CBOS survey revealing that while only 2% of Poles opposed Ukraine's EU membership in 2022, that figure has now surged to 40%.

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Russia is already winning the battle for minds with us. We may pay for it.

Adding to this trend, a poll by Opinia24 for Polityka magazine shows that 44% of Poles desire a halt to military assistance for Ukraine. This represents a significant change in sentiment within a country that has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion.

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From the CBOS survey, it results that in 2022, 2% of Poles did not want to see Ukraine in the European Union, currently – 40%.

Bartkiewicz suggests that Poland is increasingly being perceived as an aggressive nation, likening it to someone ready to physically assault a woman simply for having an Eastern accent. He notes that while the argument "ad Putinum" (accusing someone of playing into Putin's hands) is often overused in Polish public discourse, in this specific context, it is difficult to ignore the success Russia has achieved.

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What is more – according to the Opinia24 poll for 'Polityka', 44% of Poles want to suspend military aid for Ukraine.

The author posits that this radical change in Polish attitudes towards Ukraine and Ukrainians marks one of Russia's most significant successes during the war, a period generally characterized by a lack of major victories for Moscow. The article implies that this shift in public perception could have significant consequences.

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And Poland is increasingly starting to have the face of a bully who is ready to punch a woman just because she has an Eastern accent.