FAKE: Ukrainians have turned Poland into the “criminal capital” of the EU

Information is being spread online that Ukrainians have turned Poland into the “criminal capital” of the European Union. Allegedly, under the influence of Ukrainian gangs, money laundering, human trafficking, drug and weapon trade thrive in the country, and the Polish government deliberately conceals this.

However, this is a fake. The article is spread by a media that is unreliable and regularly publishes Russian and pro-Russian fakes, particularly about Ukraine. The article itself used untrue information about the Olena Zelenska Foundation, which we have previously debunked. According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Poland in 2023 is not the country with the highest crime rate among EU countries.

Similar information is spread by the Polish media outlet Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny. Previously, the VoxCheck team within the framework of the Propaganda Diary project found that the media systematically publishes Russian and pro-Russian fakes, particularly about Ukraine, and is on the blacklist of media outlets in Poland. Other fakes in European media can be found on the Propaganda Diary database website.

In the article itself, Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny used fakes and manipulation. For example, they claim that the Olena Zelenska Foundation is involved in selling children. We have already debunked this fake.

The material also mentions the increase in the number of offenses committed by foreigners, including Ukrainians. This is supposedly the reason why Poland has become the criminal capital of the EU. However, according to the Global Organized Crime Index, Poland’s rating is 4.48 in 2023, making it 28th out of 44 countries in Europe and 18th out of 27 among EU countries. Therefore, Poland is not the criminal capital of either Europe or the European Union.

The media outlet Rzeczpospolita, citing data from the Main Police Headquarters of Poland, reports that during the first 5 months of 2023, Ukrainians indeed lead in the number of suspects among foreigners. However, it is not in the country overall, but specifically among foreigners. There are known 4695 foreign suspects, of which 2288 are Ukrainian citizens. However, there are approximately 1.5 million people with Ukrainian citizenship in Poland. Therefore, in relative terms, the number of Ukrainian offenders accounts for 0.15% of all Ukrainians in Poland. Meanwhile, the leaders in the number of suspects in committing offenses are Georgians: as Rzeczpospolita writes, there are 22,000 individuals with Georgian citizenship living in Poland. 901 individuals are suspected of committing crimes, which is 4.1% of the total.

The publication notes that the majority of Ukrainian citizens were detained for drunk driving. Specifically, Ukrainians account for 70% of foreigners detained for this offense. It is also pointed out that from 2013 to 2022, the number of foreign suspects in crimes increased by 3.5 times – from 3,500 to 12,400. However, there is no indication that this increase is solely due to Ukrainians.