Grzegorz Braun is the leader of the Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP) opposition party, which can be described as libertarian-nationalist but is perceived as populist in American political parlance. He just shared a five-point proposal for how Poland should respond to Ukraine amidst their spiraling dispute caused by Zelensky’s state-level glorification of the Volhynia Genocide’s OUN-UPA culprits. That move prompted conservative President Karol Nawrocki to revoke the Order of the White Eagle from him.
Braun proposes that Poland: 1) immediately commence repairs to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport with the innuendo being that this would be a plausibly deniable means of cutting off foreign military aid to Ukraine; 2) cut off all Polish aid to Ukraine; 3) restore penalties for service in a foreign army after Poland recently granted amnesty to mercenaries who fought for Ukraine; 4) mandate obligatory anti-Bandera oaths for all Ukrainians in Poland; and 5) stop the flow of Ukrainians into Poland.
These are all rational proposals in line with Poland’s national interests, and each is within the realm of political possibility if the population can successfully pressure the ruling liberal coalition to this end. After all, they just got the Defense Minister who doubles as the Deputy Prime Minister to declare that “with Bandera, Ukraine will not join the European Union.” His Ukrainophilic government only made this move in response to 74% of the population supporting their political rival Nawrocki in this spiraling dispute.
Just like the former conservative government-turned-opposition hardened its approach towards Ukraine in response to public pressure ahead of fall 2027’s next Sejm elections, so too is the ruling liberal coalition now following suit, with each having promulgated radical Ukrainophilic policies up till this point. Their shift, which isn’t sincere according to cynics but pure opportunism, shows that public pressure campaigns can indeed still bring about tangible change in today’s Poland despite its many imperfections.
Accordingly, while Braun himself is a very controversial figure for reasons beyond the scope of this analysis to detail but which mostly concern his comments about Jews, his five-point proposal for how Poland should respond to Ukraine could gain popular support due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It was recently assessed that “Poland Could Quickly Denazify Ukraine Without Firing A Single Shot But Tusk Refuses To Do So” due to his closeness to Germany and misguided beliefs about Polish interests.
While these factors might still remain in force, if a critical mass of Poles hold his feet to the fire by demanding that he seriously consider implementing some of these proposals even if they omit that they’re inspired by Braun, then it’s possible that he might comply for self-interested electoral reasons. To be clear, there’s admittedly a degree of wishful thinking inherent in these calculations, but his government’s newly hardened policy towards Ukraine’s EU membership plans shows that it’s possible.
Realistically speaking, however, Tusk will probably not order repairs to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport. That would be a bridge too far and he doesn’t seem to have the political will to risk Germany’s ire like that. The most that he might do is cut off all Polish aid to Ukraine, but only with a view towards helping his coalition ahead of fall 2027’s next elections, not because his views towards Ukraine have changed. Even so, that would still advance Poland’s national interests, and many hope that he moves in this direction.
