Krzysztof Bosak returned to the issue of minimum pension subsidies for Ukrainian citizens surviving in Poland. The main point of the dispute is not to aid people who legally worked and paid contributions, but a mechanics in which the Polish strategy can supplement the provision of a very short period of work in Poland.
A dispute over money from the Polish system
Krzysztof Bosak, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm and 1 of the leaders of the Confederation, points to the problem of subsidies for minimum pensions paid to Ukrainian citizens who live in Poland and benefit from the Polish-Ukrainian social safety agreement. According to the portal for Things, the politician believes that the state should change the rules so that the Polish payer does not cover the difference between the very low benefit earned in Poland and the Polish minimum pension.
Here is the stake for Poles. The pension strategy is not abstract. These are contributions from people working in Poland, the money of entrepreneurs and taxpayers and the state towards its own seniors. If the construction of an global agreement creates a gateway for disproportionate subsidies to the real contribution to the Polish system, it is the work of the government to close this door or at least precisely reduce it.
In the background, there is besides a broader discussion about the state policy towards Ukrainian citizens after years of war in Ukraine and the mass presence of refugees in Poland. The law must separate between honest workers and mechanisms which may lead to an excessive burden on the Polish community. A akin rule The National diary described in the dispute how law should separate between criminals and honest people.
The agreement has been in operation since 2014
ZUS explains that The social safety agreement between Poland and Ukraine entered into force on 1 January 2014.. Its sense is simple: a individual who has worked in both countries can apply for benefits from both systems. Polish institution pays for periods of insurance in Poland, Ukrainian for periods of work in Ukraine.
This does not mean that a full Polish minimum pension is automatically required after a short episode of work in Poland. The conditions are wider: retirement age, suitable traineeship and residence. The problem indicated by the right concerns something else: a short Polish insurance period combined with a abroad internship and a minimum payment mechanics if the benefit calculated in Poland is very low.
From 1 March 2026. the lowest pension is PLN 1,978.49 gross. This is simply a circumstantial amount to which the State guarantees the payment to eligible persons. If individual has worked out symbolic performance in Poland, the difference covers the system. In the case of foreigners, the question is: should the warrant financed by Polish taxpayers work the same way erstwhile the main part of the internship was developed outside Poland?
State to defend its own taxpayers
Bosak demands a change in the rules, as he believes that the current model can lead to a situation in which the Polish state assumes a disproportionate burden to pay. This is not a substance of resentment towards Ukrainian citizens as people. It is simply a substance of simple justice towards Polish workers who have maintained the Social Insurance Fund for decades.
That is why this subject should not be covered with moral blackmail. Poland accepted a immense burden of assistance after Russian aggression against Ukraine. Polish families, schools, local governments and the state budget incurred real costs. However, solidarity in a war situation does not stand for the work to defender national interests. A country that does not number its own money will sooner or later start saving on its own citizens.
The same applies to left-wing reflex to bring all problem of benefits to the slogan of equality. Equality without proportions becomes injustice. The contribution is intended to mean a contribution and the right to benefit should be linked to a real contribution to the Polish system. Otherwise, we make an incentive to usage the guarantees that individual else pays for.
We request a search, not propaganda.
Poland should review social safety agreements with a view to protecting its own public finances. It's not about receiving benefits due for legal work. The point is that the surcharge to the Polish minimum does not work like an automatic bonus separated from the dimension and scale of participation in the Polish system.
A tough country is not about screaming. It involves good law, cost control and political courage. If the government is afraid to rise the subject, due to the fact that it will immediately hear the charge of insensitivity, it means that it has put public finances under the care of emotion. Poland cannot afford this.
The issue of pensions shows a broader problem, which the right has been talking about for a long time: after years of exceptional solutions, you gotta return to a average state measure. aid yes, privileges without control not. Ukrainian citizens are to be treated in accordance with the law and with dignity, but the Polish pension strategy exists primarily to defend Poles and those who actually contributed to its maintenance for years. We wrote more about the figure of politics in the text Krzysztof Bosak, from All Polek to Deputy talker of the Sejm.
Source: To Things, ZUS, KRUS
Source: To Things
