Against the backdrop of a full-scale invasion of Russia, Poland last year provided Ukraine with almost $8 billion in aid, which is about 1.5% of the countryʼs GDP.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said this in a conversation with the publisher of The Wall Street Journal Almar Latour.
Duda emphasized that since the beginning of the war, the Poles received the Ukrainians "very warmly".
"People gave away their apartments, literally shared bread. The Polish state assumed certain expenses, we supported our entrepreneurs, invested money. We calculated that all aid to Ukraine in 2022 was about 1.5% of our GDP, $7-8 billion. This is a lot of money, we did not receive European aid for it," the Polish president noted.
According to Duda, Ukrainians are respected in Poland because "they work in all fields, starting from elementary work and ending with the highest quality technologies."
"Today they influence the development of our economy. They are an important part of our labor market, there are 2-3 million of them," the Polish president added.
- On May 11, Ukraine received 14 MiG-29 fighters as part of Polish military assistance.