A new poll shows that a majority of Poles are against sending Polish troops into Ukraine, while less than a fifth of the population supports such a move.
The SW Research agency poll for media outlet Rzeczpospolita asked Poles whether they supported the idea that NATO countries could send troops to Ukraine. The results show that 56 percent of Poles reject any idea of NATO sending troops to Ukraine, with only 19 percent ready to contemplate such a move. Another 25 percent had no opinion.
The poll took place in the aftermath of French President Emmanuel Macron’s reported remarks that NATO states should not rule out sending their troops to Ukraine on a bilateral basis. Most NATO countries ruled out such a possibility in response to Macron’s statement.
Right from the outset of the war in Ukraine, Russia has been claiming that it is engaged in fighting NATO even though Ukraine is not a member of the alliance.
Responding to a question of whether NATO states should send troops to Ukraine, half of women voters and three out of five male voters were found to be opposed to the idea. Among young voters, 61 percent were against it.
Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz last week ruled out Poland sending Polish armed forces to the front in Ukraine and added that there are no plans for any such actions on NATO’s part either.
He emphasized that the idea of sending troops to Ukraine was one made by France and not NATO. According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland believed that the right response was to arm Ukraine and train its armed forces, adding that Poland was doing just that in Bydgoszcz where a Ukraine-NATO center for training troops was being set up.
