Bartosz Cichocki (Photo: vpolshchi.pl)

Today, almost all parties in Poland are Ukrainian-skeptical, and Poles are outraged by the large number of Ukrainian men of military age living abroad. To fix this, Ukraine should pay more attention to relations with Poland. This opinion was expressed by the former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine (2019-2023) Bartosz Cichocki in an interview with Puls Biznesu.

He noted that cooling off in relationships is a natural process, but it is accelerated by certain circumstances.

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"After a period of euphoria and mass solidarity, a certain balance of emotions should have come. The path from the most positive to the negative can be surprisingly short. We see many Ukrainians of draft age in Poland. Based on these images, the idea is formed that "we help, but they don't fight," said Tsikhotsky.

The diplomat noted that he does not share these sentiments of Polish society.

"This is just a fragment of reality. Those who stand out – driving expensive cars, eating at expensive restaurants, shopping at exclusive stores – are a small group, but very visible. I always try to point out that almost every one of these Ukrainians – either personally or through their family – has experienced enormous trauma. These are people who are often deeply wounded, physically and mentally," he said.

Ukraine should also explain this to the Poles, but it almost never conducts information campaigns in Poland.

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"I constantly explain to my Ukrainian colleagues that they – in the sense of Ukraine – are simply absent from the Polish information space. They take our support for granted, as something they simply deserve," Tsikhotsky emphasized.

Under these circumstances, there are almost no parties left in Poland today that do not declare a certain skepticism towards Ukraine. This should also be corrected by Ukraine paying more attention to Poland, in particular by providing assistance.

"I explain to my friends from Kyiv: if you want to achieve something, come to Poland, stay here for a few days, and don't just pass through Warsaw on your way to Washington, Berlin, or London," the diplomat said.