Bus driver verbally abused Ukrainian girls in Bielsko-Biała – wave of attacks on Ukrainians in Poland
A bus driver, on long-term sick leave from the public transport authority, abused two 11-year-old Ukrainian girls on a bus. The man was dismissed and criminal proceedings have been initiated.
Bus driver verbally abused Ukrainian girls in Bielsko-Biała – wave of attacks on Ukrainians in Poland
On a public transport bus in the southern Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, an older man loudly abused two eleven-year-old girls who were speaking Ukrainian. The perpetrator turned out to be a driver for the municipal transport operator, who had been on sick leave for some time. The man told the children to go back to Ukraine, claiming they were living "off our money". He also threatened them, saying he knew where they lived. Video of the incident circulated on the internet.
Following publication of the video, the transport company released surveillance footage, which definitively disproved rumours of alleged provocation on the part of the girls. The man was dismissed without notice, and the public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings.
The incident is part of an escalating series of attacks on Ukrainians in Poland. In Sosnowiec, police detained a 44-year-old man with a criminal record. According to the prosecutor, the man struck a minor on the head, insulted and kicked a man during shopping, and attacked two Ukrainian women with pepper spray in a grooming salon. The motive was stated as "hostility towards persons of Ukrainian nationality".
In Łódź, a Polish citizen was beaten by a fellow Pole who mistook him for a Ukrainian. In Warsaw in July, a shop belonging to a Polish woman was vandalised after she reacted negatively to a passing march with anti-Ukrainian slogans.
Poland's interior minister warned of a "brown wave". According to recent polls, sympathy for Ukrainians was expressed by only 29 per cent of Poles, whilst 43 per cent declare a rather negative attitude. Three years ago, the proportions were reversed.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung