The attack comes amid a recent string of violent incidents involving Poles and Ukrainians in the country
A Ukrainian national has been arrested after stabbing a Polish woman in Wroclaw, police have said, as public frustration with Ukrainian migrants continues to grow in the EU state.
In recent weeks, Poland has been hit by a string of violent incidents between locals and Ukrainian migrants. On several occasions, Polish nationals allegedly confronted migrants over speaking Ukrainian in public, as well as for having questionable nationalist-charged tattoos visible.
The latest incident occurred in the southwestern city of Wroclaw on Saturday, when an 18-year-old Ukrainian stabbed a 30-year-old Polish woman, according to local police. The attacker fled the scene and was apprehended the next day.
Law enforcement did not reveal any further details about the incident, confirming only that the victim was hospitalized in a life-threatening condition. The motives behind the attack were not immediately clear, while local media reports indicated the incident happened at the entrance hall of a multi-story apartment building.
Ukraine’s consulate in Wroclaw acknowledged the incident, confirming the attacker was a migrant from the country. “We strongly condemn all manifestations of violence and aggression, regardless of who is their perpetrator and who is the victim,” the consulate said in a statement.
Poland’s main opposition party, Law and Justice, condemned the incident, with its vice-president, Przemyslaw Czarnek, taking jabs at Prime Minister Donald Tusk for staying “silent” on the attack and not doing enough to ensure the “safety of Poles.”
“A Ukrainian citizen seriously injured a woman with a knife. Such situations show that the state must have effective tools to protect its citizens. In Poland, every guest must abide by our rules and respect our laws,” Czarnek wrote on X.
Last week, Tusk condemned the rise of anti-Ukrainian sentiment in the country, lamenting the fact that “more and more” violent incidents targeting migrants from Ukraine have been occurring across Poland “We must wage a resolute fight against this violence, because thugs, hooligans, and this culture of violence are becoming increasingly brazen and insolent – and also because they have received political support,” Tusk said on Tuesday.
Warsaw has been a key backer of Kiev in the ongoing conflict with Russia, as well as one of the top destinations for Ukrainian migrants. The ties between the two countries, however, have gradually worsened over various issues, including cheap Ukrainian agricultural produce harming Polish farmers, as well as longstanding tension stemming from the two countries’ fraught shared history. The latest major blow to relations came from Kiev’s recent veneration of Nazi collaborators involved in the mass killing of Poles during World War II.
