Since the end of August 2025, when President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the government’s amendment to the Act on Assistance to Ukrainian Citizens and at the same time presented his own draft amendments to the Act, in the justification for which he announced for the first time a tightening of the provisions on citizenship, the debate on this issue has not subsided in Poland. A month later, the draft bill was made public, further heating up the debate. The draft provides for an extension of the minimum period of uninterrupted legal residence of a foreigner in the territory of the Republic of Poland to ten years. Article 30 of the Act of April 2, 2009, on Polish citizenship contains the following provision:
“The following person shall be considered Polish citizens:
1) a foreigner who has been residing continuously in the territory of the Republic of Poland for at least 3 years on the basis of a permanent residence permit, a long-term resident’s European Union residence permit or permanent residence right, who has a stable and regular source of income in the Republic of Poland and a legal title to occupy residential premises;”
De facto, today the process of obtaining Polish citizenship takes at least 8 years, not including the procedure for granting it, which in practice takes from one to two years, because in order to obtain the permanent residence mentioned in the article, one must first reside continuously on the basis of temporary residence rights. The change proposed by the president will de facto extend the entire process to a minimum of 15 years, and in practice 16-17 years. Separate provisions cover other situations, such as possession of a Polish Card, marriage to a Polish citizen, or tolerated stay (replacing refugee status in some cases).
However, this article is not intended to explain the Polish legislative process, but presenting these facts is necessary to examine the use of this topic in disinformation.
Confederation politician Paweł Usiądek published a long post on the X portal in which he describes how a Ukrainian news portal allegedly argues that Ukrainians should have representation in the Polish Sejm as early as 2027.
Ukraiński portal przekonuje: Ukraińscy politycy w polskim Sejmie już w 2027 roku.
— Paweł Usiądek (@PUsiadek) October 6, 2025
Ukraiński portal Europejska Prawda przekonuje, że imigranci z Ukrainy powinni zacząć odgrywać rolę polityczną w naszym kraju. Według danych przytoczonych przez serwis nawet 80 procent obywateli… pic.twitter.com/BECdfRQQGS
This topic does indeed appear in the article, but not as a persuasion, but as a statement of fact – that such a possibility exists. It is worth noting that, contrary to the thesis repeatedly repeated by anti-Ukrainian disinformers, refugees who came to Poland from Ukraine in 2022 will not suddenly acquire citizenship in 2027, because residence under the Act of March 12, 2022 on assistance to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the armed conflict in that country (the so-called special act) does not count towards the legally required period of residence.
Returning to Paweł Usiądek’s post, European Truth, because that is what we are talking about, also “accused Poland of growing xenophobia. How is this xenophobia supposed to manifest itself? The portal points to examples of the deportation of Ukrainian citizens after the events related to Maks Korż’s concert, when the crowd vandalized the National Stadium, and Bandera symbols were visible at the concert itself. The text also states that the Polish authorities’ demand that Ukrainians must work, pay taxes and pension contributions, keep their jobs (because without them they will lose family benefits) and, God forbid, not make a mess is xenophobic. These are fairly obvious expectations of guests, aren’t they?
This paragraph is an example of subtle manipulation, because Olena Babakova’s text does indeed contain the thesis that Donald Tusk’s government tolerates the rise of xenophobia. This statement is one of the disturbing elements, according to the author of the text, alongside others mentioned by Usiądek as examples of xenophobia allegedly described by the journalist. It may seem like a minor manipulation, but it affects the overall reception of the text by the “demanding journalist,” as Paweł Usiądek calls Olena Babakowa. Usiądek’s text “based” on Babakowa’s article also appeared on the Confederation’s website. In it, the politician openly lies, writing, for example: “As she points out, there are 1.7 million Ukrainians living in Poland who regularly acquire Polish citizenship. In 2024, this number reached as many as 40,000 people.”
These figures are puzzling. Let’s compare them with a quote from the article in question:
With a migrant community of over two million in 2023-2024, Poland granted citizenship to only about 16,000 people through presidential and provincial procedures.
It is worth noting that the figure of 16,647 refers to 2024, which is an increase of 37% compared to the previous year. However, even in total, this is nowhere near the figure given by the Confederation politician.
Even the title of the article refers to this absurd thesis.
They are no longer hiding it. Ukrainians are going to massively pursue Polish citizenship
Of course, these false claims were very quickly picked up by a whole range of accounts, from ordinary trolls and most likely bots, to other politicians and supporters of this camp, including Sławomir Mentzen, who, unlike Paweł Usiądek, at least linked to the original text, albeit Anton Filippov’s English version, which is a slightly abridged version of Babakowa’s text.
Ukrainians in Poland want to have an increasingly greater influence on our politics!
There are already 2 million of them here, and now they are planning to gain representation in the Sejm (Polish parliament) as early as 2027!
Their journalists are writing articles expressing outrage that we do not want to allow them to rule.
“UKRAINIAN PORTAL ANNOUNCES THAT UKRAINIANS WITH POLISH CITIZENSHIP WILL HAVE THEIR OWN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT IN THE SEJM OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND”
Tweet Text:
Ukrainians want to have Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Sejm! A Ukrainian portal predicts that as early as 2027, MPs of Ukrainian origin may take seats in the Polish Sejm, if as many as 80% of Ukrainians with long-term residence in Poland decide to obtain citizenship!
#Konfederacja #RuchNarodowy
Text on the Graphic:
Main Headline:
UKRAINIANS WANT TO HAVE THEIR OWN MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT IN THE SEJM!
The European Pravda portal predicts that as early as 2027, MPs of Ukrainian origin may take seats in the Polish Sejm, if as many as 80% of Ukrainians with long-term residence in Poland decide to obtain citizenship!
Highlighted Text:
Ukrainians claim that since immigrants make a significant contribution to our economy, they should have a say in politics! The portal accuses Poland of growing xenophobia and inaction of the authorities, and criticizes the presidential draft bill that extends the residence requirement from 3 to 10 years before obtaining citizenship!
Bottom Section (Yellow):
Ukrainians are demanding what the Confederation has warned against for years – they want to have their own MPs and influence Polish politics. Already today, there are people in Donald Tusk’s government who are more engaged in Ukrainian affairs than those of our own country!
Granting citizenship to an increasing number of Ukrainians may give them an advantage to create a political party soon. They will start competing for their votes, REALIZING UKRAINIAN DEMANDS AT THE EXPENSE OF POLISH INTERESTS!
NO to handing out citizenships!
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Finally, it is worth emphasizing one fundamental point. The opinions of a journalist are his own opinions. They are not the position of the state – in this case, Ukraine. Just as Mr. Usiądek’s opinions are not the position of the Polish state. Discussion about the validity of certain views is, of course, permitted and is even the essence of democracy and freedom of speech, but it should be based on truth, not deceitful manipulation.
The anti-Ukrainian rhetoric of Confederation politicians is no longer surprising or shocking. Manipulation of the original text, distortion of data, or simply blatant lies are instruments of propaganda, which, at the expense of Polish-Ukrainian relations, are intended to build support for one political option. And, as usual, Russia benefits from this – without having to take any action.
PMB
