Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Monday blocked legislation to extend child benefits to all Ukrainian refugees in Poland, saying only parents who work should receive them.
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, around one million refugees have settled in Poland — most of them women and children.
Poland is a key supporter of Ukraine and a major transit route for Western aid but public attitudes towards Ukrainians have hardened.
Nawrocki, a nationalist, promised to cut social welfare benefits during the campaign ahead of his election victory on June 1.
“I will not change my mind and I think that (this aid) should be limited only to Ukrainians who are committed to working in Poland,” Nawrocki, who took office this month, told reporters.
The law put forward by Poland’s pro-EU government adopted by the parliament would have extended child benefits until March 2026.
The current system of child benefits will expire at the end of September.
Nawrocki said Ukrainians who do not work in Poland should not be allowed to receive free medical treatment as they do now.
“This puts us in a situation in which Polish citizens, in their own country, are less well treated than our Ukrainian guests,” he said.
Nawrocki has put forward his own legislation to cut social welfare for Ukrainians.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the veto but his government does not have the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to overcome the move.
“We cannot punish people for losing their job — particularly not innocent children. This is the ABC of human decency,” Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak wrote on X.
A recent report carried out by Deloitte for the UN refugee agency found that Ukrainian refugees have a positive net impact of 2.7 percent on Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP).
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