'Biggest hit ever': Staggering amount Tesla lost during day of fighting revealed

Sarah K. Burris
June 5, 2025 

RAW STORY


FILE PHOTO: A Tesla Cybertruck is parked on a local Tesla dealer in Paramus, New Jersey, U.S., July 23, 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

CNBC is reporting that amid the feud between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the electric vehicle company lost its largest market cap of all time.

Raw Story reported after the close of the stock market on Thursday, Tesla stock rallied a little after falling 17.5% to close at over 14%. That translates into a significant financial loss for the company.

"The move dropped the EV maker $152 billion in value, putting it below the $1 trillion benchmark and settling Thursday at $916 billion," said the report.

In a press conference with the German chancellor on Thursday afternoon, Trump alleged that Musk was likely furious that the 2026 budget bill didn't have credits for EVs like Tesla. Musk has been posting about the bill, alleging it adds too much to the deficit. The CBO scored that it would add $2.4 trillion.

“Whatever,” Musk clapped back on X during the press conference.

The ongoing battle between the two men continued from there, with Trump threatening to pull all of Musk's federal contracts.

Tesla had a successful month in May, reclaiming 22% of losses despite low sales, the report continued.

Read the full report here.

EVs boost German auto sales, Tesla falls again


By AFP
June 4, 2025


Registrations of BYD cars jumped more than 800 percent from a year earlier, to nearly 1,860 vehicles, although the Chinese EV giant is just beginning to make inroads in Germany - Copyright AFP Nikolay DOYCHINOV

A jump in electric car sales helped give a slight boost to Germany’s troubled auto market last month, official data showed Wednesday, although Elon Musk’s Tesla fared poorly again.

A total of 239,297 new vehicles were registered in May in Europe’s top car market, 1.2 percent more than the same month last year, the KBA federal transport authority said.

The number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered jumped 45 percent, as the segment continues a tentative recovery following a downturn last year triggered by the removal of government subsidies.

This offset declines for petrol and diesel vehicle sales.

But electric car maker Tesla, which has suffered across Europe due to anger that Musk played a role as a key advisor to US President Donald Trump, saw its sales slide again, this time by 36 percent.

The US billionaire has faced particular hostility in Germany for backing the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) before February’s general election.

Musk left his role as an advisor to Trump last week, although it is not yet clear what impact this could have on Tesla’s fortunes.

Registrations of BYD cars jumped more than 800 percent from a year earlier, to nearly 1,860 vehicles, although the Chinese EV giant is just beginning to make inroads in Germany.

EY analyst Constantin Gall said many EV manufacturers had “significantly reduced the price difference between combustion engines and comparable electric vehicles, and are also offering very attractive financing or leasing conditions for electric cars”.

The German auto market has performed weakly in recent years, and is still about 28 percent below pre-pandemic levels, according to EY.

“The market is moving sideways and not advancing — neither in Germany nor in Europe,” said Gall.

US private sector hiring sharply slows, drawing Trump ire


By AFP
June 4, 2025


Image: — © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Michael M. Santiago

Beiyi SEOW

US private sector hiring hit its slowest pace since 2023 in May, according to data Wednesday from payroll firm ADP, significantly missing expectations in a month where all eyes are on the effects of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Private sector employment rose by 37,000 jobs last month, slowing from the 60,000 figure in April.

Trump immediately reacted by pressuring independent Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates.

“‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

While the US central bank has started bringing down rates from the high levels of recent years, officials have proceeded cautiously as they monitor progress in cooling stubborn inflation.

When inflation is low, central banks may opt to reduce rates, which typically encourages economic activity by reducing borrowing costs.

But Trump’s frustration comes at a time when “hiring is losing momentum” after a strong start to this year, according to ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.

She added in a statement that pay growth was also “little changed in May.”

Service-providing sectors like leisure and hospitality, as well as financial activities, still logged gains, according to the ADP report.

Goods-producing industries saw a net loss in jobs last month, with employment declining in mining and manufacturing.

Some service sectors also saw job losses, including trade and transportation, as well as business services and education or health services.

Meanwhile, pay growth for those who remained in their jobs was little-changed at 4.5 percent.

For those who switched jobs, pay growth was 7.0 percent.

Analysts are keeping a close eye on US economic data this week, with official US employment figures also due on Friday.

While ADP figures may diverge from the government numbers, experts are keeping tabs on the effects of Trump’s global tariffs as they sweep through the world’s biggest economy.

Since returning to the presidency, Trump has slapped a 10 percent tariff on most trading partners, alongside higher rates on dozens of economies including the European Union which have since been put on pause until early July.

He has also taken special aim at China with tit-for-tat tariffs between Washington and Beijing reaching three-figures before both sides reached a temporary deal to lower levels last month.

But the seesawing of Trump’s trade policies has snarled supply chains, roiled financial markets and weighed on consumer sentiment.

“Manufacturing employment is suffering from higher input costs and disruptions to supply chains. At least one vehicle producer was forced to idle production during the first half of May; that is reminiscent of the pandemic,” warned KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk in a recent note.

Czechs sign nuclear deal with S.Korea firm KHNP: PM


By AFP
June 4, 2025


The Czech Republic relies on nuclear power for 40 percent of its electricity consumption - Copyright AFP/File Allison ROBBERT

A Czech state-run company signed Wednesday a deal with South Korea’s KHNP to build two nuclear reactors in the EU country after a court dismissed a bid by France’s EDF to block the deal.

A Czech court had blocked the multi-billion-dollar deal in May after French energy group EDF filed a complaint, questioning the transparency of the tender which it lost.

But a higher court threw out the ruling on Wednesday over procedural flaws, enabling Fiala’s government to ink the deal.

“A while ago we signed an agreement on the supply of two units for the Dukovany nuclear plant,” Fiala told reporters.

“We did our best to make sure the deal can be signed the instant the legal obstacles are removed,” he said.

He hailed the signature as a “fundamental step on the way to higher energy security and self-sufficiency”.

KHNP is due to build the two units at the southern Czech nuclear plant of Dukovany run by the state-run CEZ group.

The Czech Republic, an EU member of 10.9 million people, relies on nuclear power — produced by Dukovany and the Temelin plant also in the south — for 40 percent of its electricity consumption.

With the two new units and small modular reactors due to be built by 2050, the share of nuclear energy is expected to rise to 50 percent as the country shifts away from burning fossil fuels.

Fiala said earlier KHNP won the tender as its bid was “better in all criteria assessed” than EDF’s offer.

On Wednesday, he said KHNP has vowed to hand 60 percent of the contract to Czech suppliers.

KHNP has offered to build the two new units for around 200 billion Czech koruna ($9 billion) each.

Prague expected to finalise the deal with KHNP by March this year, but complaints by EDF delayed the process.

CEZ expects construction to begin in 2029 and the first new reactor launched in trial operation in 2036.

Cuban students call boycott over mobile tariff hikes


By AFP
June 4, 2025


The University of Havana is the locus of student anger over steep hikes in mobile internet tariffs, which have prompted calls for a boycott of classes - Copyright AFP Allison ROBBERT

Rigoberto DIAZ, Jordane BERTRAND

Cuban students called for a boycott of classes Wednesday over new mobile internet tariffs that include steep fees for those who exceed their monthly data limits.

Cubans say the tariff hikes implemented by state telecoms company Etecsa on May 30 will leave them with only a few gigabytes of data per month as purchasing additional data will be prohibitively expensive.

Students have been particularly angered by the new pricing system, under which top-ups must be paid in hard-to-come-by-dollars or at a steep increment in Cuban pesos.

While acknowledging “progress” in negotiations with Etecsa, student union president Jose Almedia told AFP: “We want more.”

On Tuesday evening, student leaders at the University of Havana’s mathematics and informatics faculty called for a boycott of classes in order to try to force Etecsa to annul the tariff hikes.

Fellow leaders of the union chapter in the philosophy, history and sociology faculty backed the boycott, as did some students from the arts department.

It was not immediately clear how many students heeded the call for the protest.

But an arts student who attended classes on Wednesday told AFP there were “practically no students” in the faculty.



– Eye-watering top-up costs –



Etecsa gave no forewarning of its new pricing structure, which it said was necessary to fund investment in infrastructure.

Rafael Gomez, an 18-year-old student at the University of Havana, said the new tariffs left mobile users with the bare minimum in terms of data.

“We were used to a certain system,” where customers can top up their credit as often as they like, he told AFP.

Now, they are limited to 6GB of data, which Gomez noted “is nothing and if you want to buy more, it costs over 3,000 pesos ($25), which you cannot afford on a regular Cuban salary,” Gomez said.

The average monthly salary on the communist island is 5,700 pesos, or $47.

Faced with the outcry from students, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday that the government was looking at “options” for “the most vulnerable sectors, including our dear students.”

After talks with student bodies Etecsa on Monday announced that students would be allowed two monthly top-ups at 360 pesos ($3), compared with one for the rest of the population.

Further top-ups have to be paid in dollars or at the eye-watering price of over 3,000 pesos.

The concessions failed to assuage the anger of many students.

Brian Gamez, a history student, told AFP he favored “peaceful protests” but was afraid that a mobilization could lead to vandalism.

The Cuban government has been wary of stoking popular discontent since July 2021 when thousands of people took to the streets in a rare show of defiance to demonstrate over shortages of fuel, food, medicine and electricity.

One person was killed and dozens injured in the protests, which Havana accused Washington of orchestrating.

US blocks Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN Security Council

By AFP
June 4, 2025


Scrutiny has increased over flailing aid distribution in Gaza, which Israel blocked for more than two months - Copyright AFP Eyad BABA

Gregory WALTON, Amelie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS

The United States vetoed Wednesday a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington claimed undermined ongoing diplomacy to resolve the conflict.

It was the 15-member body’s first vote on the situation since November, when the United States — a key Israeli ally — also blocked a text calling for an end to fighting.

“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground and emboldens Hamas,” Washington’s United Nations envoy Dorothy Shea said ahead of the vote.

“This resolution also draws false equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” she said.

The draft resolution had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties.”

It also called for the “immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.”

Underlining a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory, the resolution, had it passed, would have demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The veto was the first wielded by Washington since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Israel has faced growing international pressure to end its war in Gaza, which was triggered by the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.

That scrutiny has increased over flailing aid distribution in Gaza, which Israel blocked for more than two months before allowing a small number of UN vehicles to enter in mid-May.

The United Nations said that was not enough to meet the humanitarian needs.



– ‘Judged by history’ –



A US-backed relief effort called the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) has also faced criticism for going against long-standing humanitarian principles by coordinating relief efforts with a military belligerent.

Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 16 people in the Gaza Strip, including 12 in a single strike on a tent housing displaced people, the Palestinian territory’s civil defense agency told AFP.

On Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF aid site, with the military saying the incident was under investigation.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, on Tuesday urged the Council to act.

“All of us will be judged by history as to how much have we done in order to stop this crime against the Palestinian people,” he said.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon attacked the text ahead of the vote.

“This resolution doesn’t advance humanitarian relief. It undermines it. It ignores a working system in favor of political agendas,” he was to tell the council, according to remarks released by his office.

“It ignores the one party still endangering civilians in Gaza: Hamas.”

Does Brazilian funk glorify crime? Singer’s arrest triggers debate

By AFP
June 4, 2025


Brazilian funk star MC Poze do Rodo spent five days in custody on charges of glorifying crime in his lyrics before being released on bail - Copyright AFP CARLOS COSTA

Lucía LACURCIA

The arrest of a popular funk singer in Brazil on suspicion of glorifying a powerful crime gang has revived a long-standing debate over the criminalization of a genre born in Rio de Janeiro’s gritty favelas, or slums.

Unlike its US namesake, which was popularized by James Brown, Rio funk borrows more from hip-hop, blended with samba and other Brazilian rhythms.

The lyrics, seen by many as celebrating favela drug lords, have repeatedly led to calls for songs to be censored.

Last week, MC Poze do Rodo, one of the genre’s best-known artists with 16 million followers on Instagram, was arrested on charges of glorifying crime and having links to Comando Vermelho (CV), one of Brazil’s biggest gangs.

The authorities said his arrest aimed to send a message to those “who romanticize and help spread narcoculture.”

The police argue that Poze’s music “clearly condones” drug trafficking and illegal use of firearms and point to concerts held “exclusively in areas dominated by CV, with a notable presence of traffickers armed with high-caliber weapons.”

After five days in preventive custody, the 26-year-old singer was released on Tuesday to a rapturous welcome from waiting fans, who swarmed his car in a column of motorbikes.

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds.

Speaking afterwards, the singer claimed he was the victim of police discrimination.

“Rio de Janeiro police don’t like me… because I’m black? Because I’m from a favela?”



– ‘Singers are not criminals’ –



Marlon Brendon Coelho Couto was born in the favela of Rodo, one of the biggest in western Rio.

He has admitted to selling drugs in his youth but says that he abandoned crime to devote himself to music.

Police footage of his arrest at his current home in the upmarket Recreio dos Bandeirantes district, cuffed and shirtless, surrounded by heavily armed officers, caused an outcry among his fans.

Fellow musicians took part in a campaign for his release, organized by his wife, influencer Viviane Noronha, on the grounds that “funk singers are not criminals.”

Erika Hilton, a Congress member, argued that by arresting Poze the authorities were seeking to “project all the sins of the world onto black people.”

But many rejoiced at seeing the star behind bars, including former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, an ex-army captain, who posted a picture of the singer with a clown emoji on his Instagram account.



– Arresting the messenger –



Funk describes the reality of life in Rio’s crime-blighted favelas.

Poze’s lyrics have regularly caused controversy.

In his 2023 track “Homenagem Pra Tropa do Rodo,” he pays tribute to men killed “shooting for Comando Vermelho.”

The debate surrounding funk’s role in crime mirrors long-standing discussions in the United States over the links between rap and violence in Black communities.

Over a decade ago, authorities in the northeastern Brazilian city of Fortaleza passed a law banning venues from hiring artists that incite violence.

Similar anti-Oruam bills, as they are known after the rapper son of a famous drug lord, are now also being debated by several other cities and state parliaments.

Danilo Cymrot, a doctor in criminology at the University of Sao Paulo, pointed to a “gray area” in the definition of glorification of violence, relating to artistic content.

“The artist doesn’t necessarily agree with his lyrics,” Cymrot, author of a book about Rio funk, said.

He added that “oftentimes, the police and the judiciary have a hard time understanding funk as a work of art.”

As a result, he said, the artist’s origins are often used to determine whether he condones violence.

“It’s less the message itself and more who is singing it.”

China lead mine plan weighs heavily on Myanmar tribe

By AFP
June 4, 2025


Since a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been riven by civil war and shattered into a patchwork of loosely governed territories ripe for exploitation by unregulated miners - Copyright AFP STR

Hundreds of protesting Myanmar tribespeople march up a hillside to a cavernous facility where a Chinese joint venture’s giant milling machines stand ready to grind up the rocks of their ancestral homeland for lead ore.

Demand for the heavy metal is forecast to rise, driven by its use in the batteries needed for the global energy transition.

But its extraction can pollute the environment and the Pradawng tribespeople carry banners reading: “No transparency, no responsibility”.

“We don’t have any plan to exchange this inheritance from our ancestors for money or riches,” said 24-year-old protest leader Khun Khine Min Naing.

“This land is the dignity of our tribe.”

Since a 2021 coup, Myanmar has been riven by civil war and shattered into a patchwork of loosely governed territories ripe for exploitation by unregulated miners.

And neighbouring China is keen to scoop up the minerals and metals Myanmar can supply.

The Pradawng — a little-known subtribe of the Kayan ethnic group — claim around 3,000 members and a 381-year lineage in Shan state, in Myanmar’s east.

They say Myanmar firm Four Star Company and a Chinese partner have planned a mega-project mining lead upriver from their village, Thi Kyeik, in Pekon township.

Heavy machinery began to be installed in February, but the tribe say they were not consulted on the scheme and fear it will taint the area with hazardous chemicals.

Locals have blockaded roads to turn back vehicles, and threatened to seize mining equipment, defying possible violent backlash in a country where the right to assemble often depends on the whims of armed guards.

“We are only asking for Indigenous rights that we should own,” Khun Khine Min Naing told AFP, demanding mine plans are rolled back until the war is over and they can be scrutinised by a civilian government.

– Natural resources –

Lead is a toxic metal, most commonly mined for use in lead-acid batteries.

Extracting it can pollute local soil and water supplies, with children particularly vulnerable to exposure, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We don’t want to leave this land environmentally damaged for the next generation,” said Khun Khine Min Naing. “We don’t want to be regarded as historical criminals.”

The Pradawng say Four Star Company has been active locally for two decades and is linked to the local ruling Kayan New Land Party, whose armed wing maintains a ceasefire with Myanmar’s military.

The firm could not be reached for comment.

Their Chinese partner company is harder to identify, and locals say its involvement was only revealed when its representatives attended a joint event with Four Star Company intended to address community backlash.

China shares a 2,100-kilometre (1,300-mile) border with Myanmar and has long been a lucrative market for the country’s natural resources, including jade, gemstones, teak logs and metal ores.

It accounts for nearly 98 percent of Myanmar’s lead ore and concentrate exports, according to 2023 World Bank data.

The figures say 49,000 tonnes worth $20 million were exported to China that year, but that is likely far short of the true amount.

The lack of a central authority means tracking the real scale of mining operations across Myanmar is difficult.

But satellite imagery analysis of one hotspot on the Myanmar-China border by the Britain-based Centre for Information Resilience showed the expanse of mining operations there nearly doubled in size between 2018 and 2024.

– ‘Only stones for our children’ –

Rechargeable lead-acid batteries are widely used in vehicles, including EVs where they provide auxiliary power, as well as for storing power generated by renewable technologies such as wind and solar.

The metal — identified by the WHO as “one of 10 chemicals of major public health concern” — sells for around $2,000 per refined tonne on the global market.

But the Pradawng people suspect they will see none of the profits.

Along with health risks, locals fear environmental damage, with villagers saying increased mining in recent years has led to more flooding and mudslides that carried off entire homes.

Mu Ju July, 19, ekes out a living picking through mine slag heaps for scraps of lead to sell.

A flurry of prospecting could be a windfall for her, but she worries it will squander the livelihoods and homes of future generations.

“If we allow them, we will be okay for only one or two years,” she said.

“It will leave only stones when the time comes for our children.”

Swiss probe intelligence leaks to Russia


By AFP
June 5, 2025


A wall with machine coding symbols at the headquarters of Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, which allegedly received sensitive information from Swiss intelligence - Copyright AFP Kazuhiro NOGI

Switzerland’s defence ministry has launched an investigation into leaks from the country’s intelligence service to Russia’s military intelligence, the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reported Wednesday.

The ministry was responding to revelations by the public broadcaster SRF, based on an internal report from the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), which said an officer in charge of the cyber team allegedly transmitted highly sensitive information to the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky — which then ended up in the hands of Russia’s GRU spy agency.

Two friendly intelligence services alerted FIS officials to the leaks, the public broadcaster said.

They threatened to “cease cooperation with the FIS if the employee continued to work for the FIS”, the broadcaster quoted the intelligence service’s internal report as saying, due to the danger these leaks posed to their own operations.

The case spans from 2014-2015 to at least the end of 2020, according to SRF.

The Swiss officer justified the collaboration with Kaspersky by citing a need for access to cyber tools that the small FIS — which has a few hundred employees — could not provide due to lack of expertise and resources.

The officer in question ultimately left the service in 2020.

For Swiss defence minister Martin Pfister, a reliable intelligence service is of paramount importance for Switzerland’s protection, “especially in the current global situation marked by insecurity”, his ministry told Keystone-ATS.

Pfister has launched an administrative investigation led by an external and independent body, which will go over the work of previous investigations — including those done within the FIS.

The collaboration with Kaspersky is surprising for a Western intelligence service, as many experts believe the cybersecurity giant has ties to Russian intelligence.

In 2024, the United States banned Kaspersky products and services from US territory.

Kaspersky has always firmly denied any links between its cybersecurity services and Russian spy agencies.

SILENCING INDIGENOUS VOICES

New Zealand parliament gives record bans to Maori MPs over haka


By AFP
June 5, 2025


New Zealand's parliament has handed record bans to three Indigenous Maori lawmakers who last year staged a protest haka on the debating floor - Copyright AFP/File New Zealand Parliament

Ben STRANG

New Zealand’s parliament on Thursday handed record-long suspensions to three Indigenous Maori lawmakers who last year staged a protest haka on the debating floor.

Maori Party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer were banished from parliament for 21 days, the longest-ever suspension.

Fellow Maori Party lawmaker Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, New Zealand’s youngest current MP, was suspended for seven days.

The bans stem from a haka performed during voting in November on the contentious Treaty Principles Bill, which sought to redefine the principles of a key pact between Maori and the government.

Waititi held up a noose as he rose to speak in defiance of the ban on Thursday.

“In my maiden speech, I talked about one of our (ancestors) who was hung in the gallows of Mt Eden Prison, wrongfully accused,” Waititi said.

“The silencing of us today is a reminder of the silencing of our ancestors of the past, and it continues to happen.

“Now you’ve traded the noose for legislation. Well, we will not be silenced.”

Although performed on many different occasions, haka are often used as a kind of ceremonial war dance or challenge to authority.

New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister Winston Peters earlier mocked Waititi for his traditional full-face Maori tattoo.

“The Maori Party are a bunch of extremists, and middle New Zealand and the Maori world has had enough of them,” said Peters, who is also Maori.

“The one that’s shouting down there, with the scribbles on his face… can’t keep quiet for five seconds.”

Maipi-Clarke, 22, sparked the affair as parliament considered the highly contentious Treaty Principles Bill in November last year.



– ‘We get punished’ –



In footage widely shared around the world, she rose to her feet, ripped up the bill and started belting out the strains of a protest haka.

She was joined by Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer, who strode on to the chamber floor chanting the Ka Mate haka famously performed by the country’s All Blacks rugby team.

Ngarewa-Packer was also accused of pointing her fingers in the shape of a gun at the leader of the right-wing ACT Party, David Seymour, who had proposed the bill.

The trio were hauled before parliament’s powerful Privileges Committee, but refused to take part in the hearing.

Supported by New Zealand’s three governing coalition parties, the bans were voted on and accepted Thursday.

Maipi-Clarke said Maori would not be silenced.

“A member can swear at another member, a member of Cabinet can lay their hands on a staff member, a member can drive up the steps of Parliament, a member can swear in Parliament, and yet they weren’t given five minutes of suspension,” she said.

“Yet when we stand up for the country’s foundational document, we get punished with the most severe consequences.”

The Treaty Principles Bill sought to reinterpret New Zealand’s founding document, signed between Maori chiefs and British representatives in 1840.

Many critics saw the bill as an attempt to wind back the special rights given to the country’s 900,000-strong Maori population.

Parliament resoundingly voted down the bill in April.

‘Hurt’: Ukrainians in Poland worried by rise of nationalists


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Poles elected nationalist Karol Nawrocki, who throughout his campaign questioned the rights of Ukrainians in Poland - Copyright AFP BAY ISMOYO

Ola CICHOWLAS

For several months, Halyna Muliar watched Poland’s presidential campaign from home in Poznan, worried as candidates swerved further to the right and increasingly aimed nationalist slogans at Poland’s 1.5 million Ukrainians — war refugees and economic migrants.

The 58-year-old arrived in Poland weeks before Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and recalled, with emotion, the huge solidarity from Poles when an evacuation train from her hometown of Mykolaiv arrived with her daughter and other refugees.

But three years later, anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is part of mainstream Polish politics.

This weekend, Poles elected as president nationalist Karol Nawrocki, who throughout his campaign questioned the rights of Ukrainians in Poland.

“So much has changed,” Muliar told AFP in Warsaw, where she had come from Poznan in the west to pick up a residency card.

“I’m worried by everything that was said during the campaign.”

Nawrocki claimed Ukrainians “cause problems in hospital queues” and “should not live better than Poles”, also accusing Kyiv of being ungrateful to its allies — all arguments often used by the Polish far right.

His rival, Rafal Trzaskowski, the pro-EU presidential candidate, had urged people not to give into “Russian narratives” about Ukraine.

But — in a failed bid to win far-right votes — he still said some benefits paid out to Ukrainian refugees should be cut.

For Muliar, the mood in Poland has seriously worsened.

“First, it started with the documents, with the waits getting much longer,” she told AFP.

Many Ukrainians have experienced longer bureaucratic procedures to obtain documents legalising their presence in Poland.

Then, she noticed social media was so full of anti-Ukrainian content she preferred not to open it.

Before long, she was the victim of xenophobic comments in shops “to which I just close my eyes”.

She is not alone.

Ukrainians in Warsaw who AFP spoke to — refugees and migrants who have been living in Poland for years — were alarmed by the unprecedented hard-right tone of the campaign.

“The damage has been done,” said Olena Babakova, a longtime observer of Polish-Ukrainian relations and of Poland’s Ukrainian community.



– ‘Took away hope’ –



While the theme of migrants has dominated election campaigns in the conservative Catholic country for years, Babakova said this “for the first time became strictly directed against Ukrainians”.

Nationalist Nawrocki has often raised 20th-century grievances between Poland and Ukraine.

The pro-EU camp also flirted with that rhetoric, which Babakova said “took away hope”.

She predicted the people worst affected by the trend would be Ukrainians working in the service sector — mostly women who have the most contact with Poles and “paradoxically, really want to integrate in Polish society”.

Olga Klymenko is one of them.

She is one of the one million Ukrainian refugees in Poland and works in a hotel.

She fled Russian occupation in 2022, escaping Ukraine’s city of Izyum under fire through Russia before obtaining asylum in Poland.

“It hurts and worries me,” she told AFP. “It’s hard to know what tomorrow will bring.”

Like many, she worries about her status in Poland.

There is much uncertainty among refugees over the future of legalisation processes.

“My house is destroyed. If there is some pressure from Poland, I have nowhere to return to,” Klymenko explained.

Se said she was waiting to see what kind of president Nawrocki would turn out to be.

The role of head of state is largely ceremonial in Poland but the president can veto government law.

Nawrocki’s victory has boosted the chances of a far-right win in the 2027 parliamentary elections.

“If there are some laws and the president’s programme is not in favour of Ukrainians, then I don’t know what we’ll do,” Klymenko said.



– ‘From the top’ –



Poland’s economy and ageing population are heavily reliant on a Ukrainian workforce.

But Ukrainians who have been living in Poland for years have also been unnerved by the election campaign.

Yulia Melnyk, who has been in Warsaw for seven years, was convinced the negative sentiment had been whipped up “from the top”.

“It’s convenient for politicians to use this kind of topic,” the transport worker said.

She said she had seen “a lot of hate” on the internet but not, so far, “in real life”.

But she admitted: “I am worried, and my family in Ukraine is worried that there will be hate towards Ukraine from the authorities themselves.”

Ukrainian cook Serhiy, who has lived in Warsaw for six years, hoped the rhetoric was limited to a heated pre-election period.

The 28-year-old is also waiting to see what Nawrocki would be like in power.

“I hope he will focus less on populism and more on real problems,” he said.