Polish culture through Ukrainian eyes
What do Ukrainians know about Polish culture? How do they perceive the heritage of the pre-partition Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and do they identify with it as a nation or not?y nie?
In order to find answers to these questions, which are also politically important, the Mieroszewski Centre developed a survey measuring the attitude of Ukrainian public opinion towards these issues. Its design was consulted with ‘Info Sapiens’, a renowned Kyiv-based sociological research centre. Subsequently, researchers from this studio, commissioned by the Mieroszewski Centre, conducted a telephone survey in all those regions of Ukraine that were not under Russian occupation in the last decade.
Poland is a country with a very attractive culture for Ukrainians. 43 % of respondents spontaneously identified Poland as the most culturally interesting country, and 56 % of Ukrainians declare an interest in Polish culture, such as books or films. The study also showed that there is a strong demand in Ukraine to learn about Poland and Polish culture. 27% of Ukrainians, including 35% of respondents among young people under 24 years of age, stated that after the outbreak of the war they became more interested in Polish culture, 34% said they became more interested in relaxation and tourism in Poland and 36% said they started buying Polish products more often. At the same time, Ukrainians believe that there are not enough Polish films and TV series on TV (74% support this thesis and 8% disagree) and that Polish culture is not talked about enough in schools (55% of Ukrainians hold this opinion and 12% are against it).