Page 50 - bne Magazine February 2023

50 I Central Europe bne February 2023
Ukrainian refugees at Przemysl station. / bne IntelliNews
Tide of Ukrainian refugees transforms Polish society
WAojciech Kosc in Warsaw
lmost immediately after
Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine on February 24 last year, there was a forced
exodus across Poland’s 535-kilometre long border on a scale not seen since World War Two.
To date, nearly 8.1mn Ukrainians have crossed into Poland – the main refugee exit route – according to the Polish Border Guard’s daily reports. Almost 6.2mn have since crossed back.
Of the remaining 1.9mn, some have moved on elsewhere in the European Union, but Poland estimates that more than one million have made Poland their more or less permanent home, attracted by existing Ukrainian communities in the country and linguistic affinities between Ukrainian and Polish.
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These migrants have been encouraged to stay the winter by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as constant Russian bombardments of infrastructure make life in the country increasingly difficult.
This influx should be compared with 7.8mn registered refugees across the whole of Europe, including 4.5mn
in the EU. Poland has received by far the largest number in total in the EU, although Czechia has received more in relation to its population.
Such an influx over just a few months – the bulk of the arrivals came in the first weeks and months of the war – have had a profound impact on Poland’s society and economy.
Poland predicts that by the end of 2022, it will have spent PLN18bn (€3.83bn)
to help Ukrainian refugees, including
welfare payouts, organising education for Ukrainian children, or providing refugees with health care – all that and more on a par with what Poles receive.
Poles have, in fact, spent much more helping refugees, as hundreds of thousands – if not millions – rolled out privately funded relief efforts, ranging from one-off donations of money and essentials to long-time renting out of apartments or rooms in their own homes.
Ukrainians are not just receivers, however. Over one million new consumers have helped prop up retail sales, which have declined as inflation ate away household incomes.
While the average Polish consumer cut spending because of the diminishing purchasing power of his or her income, Ukrainians kept on shopping.