“On behalf of President Biden, thank you, Poland, for what you’re doing to address the crisis in Ukraine,” said Mark Brzezinski during a recent speech at the University of Warsaw.

“I thank the young Polish people for organising on social media to make trips to the border, to pick up families from there and take care of those families […] You are our heroes […] I’m proud to be ambassador to a humanitarian superpower,” – added the American ambassador. 

The help provided by Poland as a whole to its endangered neighbour since February is indeed impressive. Poles offered accommodation to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine. Via state institutions, NGOs or individually, they also collected innumerable donations in a common wave of solidarity.

Numerous Poles citizens took in complete strangers to their homes. In April, the government estimates revealed that around 600,000 refugees were benefiting from state payments to households hosting them. 

Poland has been the main destination for refugees, with close to 3.2 million people crossing its border from Ukraine since late February.

In his speech, Mark Brzezinski also referred to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine as “an unjustifiable war against innocent citizens”.

“Darkness, anxiety, desperation, misunderstanding, pain, anger, rage, fear have come […] Through it all, however, we see rays of hope. We also see determination, and we see the West united as it has never been united before,” the ambassador concluded. 

Image: Twitter@USAmbPoland

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen