Over half of Poles believe Zelenskyy has negative attitude towards Poland

Ivanna Kostina, Roman Petrenko - 21 June, 10:29

Polish and Ukrainian flags. Stock photo: Getty Images

More than half of surveyed Poles believe that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a negative view of Poland.

Source: United Surveys poll, as reported by Polish news channel Polsat News and European Pravda

Details: Respondents were asked to assess the Ukrainian president's current attitude towards Poland. Some 58.3% of those surveyed said they believed Zelenskyy's attitude towards Poles is negative. The opposite view was held by 30.1% of respondents, while 11.6% answered that it was difficult to say.

"What, in your opinion, is Volodymyr Zelenskyy's attitude towards Poland?" respondents were asked. Among those who assessed Zelenskyy's attitude towards Poland negatively, 33.7% chose "rather negative" and 24.6% chose "definitely negative". Together, this amounts to 58.3% of Poles.

Some 30.1% of respondents believe that Zelenskyy has a positive attitude towards Poland, including 27.4% who described it as "rather positive" and 2.7% as "definitely positive".

The United Surveys poll for Wirtualna Polska was conducted before the decision to strip Zelenskyy of Poland's highest state award, on 12-14 June 2026. The survey involved 1,000 respondents from different regions of Poland.

Background:

On the evening of 19 June, Polish President Karol Nawrocki took the decision to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle in connection with the naming of a Ukrainian military unit after the Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He said Poland would not allow EU accession for those who do not understand the need to renounce the "cult of totalitarianism and violence".
Following this, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar, and Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Budanov announced that they would be returning the Polish state awards they had received.

On 20 June, Zelenskyy said he had sent the order back to Nawrocki by post.
All Ukrainian presidents who have been awarded the Polish Order of the White Eagle have subsequently renounced it.

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