Poland’s Law and Justice party, known as PiS, is tying future support for Ukraine to a list of demands on Kyiv. Przemyslaw Czarnek, the party’s vice-president, said on 18 October 2026 that he would increase pressure on Ukraine if he became prime minister.
His demands cover reconstruction contracts, agricultural competition and the treatment of unemployed Ukrainians in Poland. Taken together, they show how support for Ukraine is being recast as a domestic political bargaining tool rather than discussed solely as a matter of regional security.
A package of demands
Czarnek said Ukraine should take Polish interests into account in exchange for Warsaw’s support. Among the demands he identified were a role for Polish companies in rebuilding Ukraine, stronger protection for Polish farmers from competition by Ukrainian agricultural products and a tougher policy towards Ukrainians living in Poland without jobs.
The remarks were reported by Gazeta Gazeta. They do not amount to an adopted government programme or establish that new conditions on Polish assistance have been decided. Czarnek’s senior position within PiS does, however, give the statement significance as an indication of a possible direction for the party if it returned to government.
The issues he linked are politically distinct. Polish firms would be seeking access to future reconstruction projects. Farmers are concerned about competition from Ukrainian goods. The question of Ukrainians without employment belongs to Poland’s domestic debate over migration, public services and the economic effects of the war.
By placing them in one package, Czarnek presents cooperation with Kyiv as an exchange. Polish support would be expected to produce visible benefits for Polish businesses, protect particular sectors and satisfy domestic demands about Ukrainians living in the country.
Ukraine as a campaign issue
That message gives PiS several ways to appeal to voters. Farmers can be offered stronger safeguards against imports. Businesses can be promised a greater share of reconstruction opportunities. Voters who believe the cost of supporting Ukraine should bring a direct return for Poland can be told that Warsaw must negotiate harder.
It also allows the party to present itself as more uncompromising than its political rivals. The immediate audience for Czarnek’s remarks is not only the Ukrainian government. It is the Polish electorate, particularly groups that see the war and its economic consequences through the lens of lost markets, public spending or competition for work.
This approach does not necessarily mean PiS is calling for an end to support for Ukraine. Instead, it changes the terms on which that support is discussed. Assistance becomes leverage: something that can be withheld, adjusted or used to demand concessions from Kyiv.
That is a more transactional model of relations than one based primarily on shared security interests. Poland’s support for Ukraine is connected not only to bilateral ties but also to the wider security of the region and the interests of the European Union during Russia’s war. A policy driven increasingly by short-term political returns could place those longer-term considerations under greater pressure.
A harder relationship with Kyiv
Czarnek’s language points towards a more confrontational relationship with Ukraine’s authorities. If adopted as a sustained party position, demands for Polish companies, agricultural protection and restrictions affecting unemployed Ukrainians would give Warsaw additional points of dispute with Kyiv.
The rhetoric may also affect the wider Polish debate. When reconstruction contracts, agricultural imports and the status of Ukrainians in Poland are repeatedly presented as reasons to pressure Ukraine, a dismissive attitude towards the country and its citizens can become easier to express and more politically useful.
Whether the statement becomes a legislative agenda, a set of conditions for bilateral assistance or mainly a campaign message remains unclear. Its immediate importance lies in the political connection it makes: support for Ukraine is being presented not simply as a strategic commitment, but as a deal that must deliver concrete gains for Poland.
