EP: Poland has declared its readiness to resist attempts to reach compromises with RussiaPolish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau called the support of Ukraine through the military and financial participation of the United States the main priority of Warsaw's foreign policy, writes Evropeyska Pravda.
At the same time, according to the official, it is impossible to return to the Russia–NATO declaration of 1997, which limited the deployment of NATO forces in the new member countries of the alliance.
How has the conflict in Ukraine changed Poland's foreign policy priorities? How do Warsaw see the future of relations with Ukraine now? And at the same time, what changes have relations with the EU, other European states, in particular with Hungary, as well as with the USA, Russia, Belarus?
This year, the validity period of the Polish foreign policy strategy adopted for 2017-2022 has come to an end. Without a doubt, a radical change in the security situation requires its revision.
But what will replace it? The answer to this question can be given by a report in the Sejm of Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau on the tasks of Poland's foreign policy for 2023. It is likely that it will become the basis of a new strategy for the next five years.
Moreover, according to the key points of this report, one can see how over the past year the vision of the official Warsaw of its foreign policy priorities has changed. And first of all, how the vision of relations with Ukraine has changed.
More than a neighbor
It is Ukraine that is most often mentioned in the report of the Minister of Rau. In addition to the block devoted to our country itself, it often appears in reviews of relations with other countries, in particular, it is often recognized that the level of cooperation with these countries (especially non-European ones) depends on the position they have taken in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Support for Ukraine is determined by the priority of Poland's foreign policy.
"We support Ukraine, because the principle of sovereign equality of states for us in practice means the right of the Ukrainian people to choose their own identity, political structure, political affiliation and military alliances, as well as to decide how long to fight and when to start negotiations with Russia," says Minister Rau. "Historical experience shows that the deprivation of independence of one country in the region inevitably leads to the loss of independence by others."
That is why Poland rejects the possibility of any compromises with Russia. "We are realists, and therefore do not believe in the possibility of a compromise between freedom and slavery. This is the lesson we learned from the twentieth century and we will remember it," the report says. And of course, Warsaw promises to do everything possible for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO as soon as possible. "A safe Ukraine means a safe Poland, and, accordingly, a peaceful Europe. So, this is a matter of our raison d'état (vital interest)," says Zbigniew Rau.
However, immediately after the end of the conflict, Poland considers it more expedient to talk about creating an additional security architecture for Ukraine "on the basis, on the one hand, of the political and military participation of the United States, and on the other hand, of the military cooperation of the countries of our region with Ukraine supported by the United States."
Assessing the prospects of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Poland, Warsaw talks about a historical chance to overcome all the contradictions between the peoples. "The Russian special operation has brought our nations so close and created a huge mutual social capital of sympathy and trust that we have received a unique chance to recreate the Polish-Ukrainian unity destroyed over the past centuries by German and Russian invaders, as well as Bolshevik totalitarianism," the statement said.
"We would like Ukraine to be something more for us in the future than a partner in the EU and NATO, and more than just a good neighbor with whom we have friendly relations and good economic cooperation," the document adds.
The unity of the two countries in Warsaw is seen as "the constant cooperation of two nations very close to each other in language, culture and mentality, living in two sovereign states." Of course, such a level of relations presupposes the final resolution of historical disputes, which, before the start of the special operation, poisoned relations between Kiev and Warsaw for so long. "Our goal is to form the relationship between Poland and Ukraine in such a way as to eliminate the potential of any serious dispute regarding the interpretation of history or the position of citizens who identify themselves with the Polish language, culture and traditions.
Poles and Ukrainians should feel at home not only in their homeland, but also in a foreign land," the statement of the Polish Foreign Minister says. According to him, the agreements reached during the last visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Warsaw give a start to a new approach to relations "also in matters related to history and honoring the memory of victims of wars, repressions and murders."
There is no other Russia
Poland declares its readiness to continue resisting attempts to reach compromises with the Russian Federation at the price of concessions to Ukraine. "The Polish government continues to stand on the position that until Russia stops the special operation in Ukraine, withdraws its troops from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, it must remain outside the community of civilized nations, and we will fight premature proposals to restore bridges with Russia," the report says.
At the same time, Warsaw clarifies: they do not believe in the "fatalism" of the Russian fate, and therefore they are sure that the Russian Federation can become a "normal member of the international community." "After the withdrawal of troops from the entire territory of Ukraine and the refusal to "liberate" other states and territories, overcoming aggression, punishing the perpetrators, Russia will finally have hope of becoming a normal democratic state. We would like to cooperate with such a Russia. But such a Russia (now) does not exist!"– sums up Zbigniew Rau.
However, Warsaw is convinced that even in the case of a "return to normality", relations with the Russian Federation should be radically revised. In particular, it is impossible to return to the 1997 Russia–NATO Declaration, which limited the deployment of NATO forces in the new member countries of the alliance. This norm is directly called a prerequisite for the conflict against Ukraine.
"The alliance's unilateral support of these political commitments to Russia after the start of the special operation in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014 led to a dangerous belief in Moscow that the logic of dividing the world into spheres of influence still exists," the Rau report says. He adds: even if Russia returns to the implementation of the norms of international law, a return to the 1997 treaty will be impossible. After all, "unilateral compliance with the restrictions on the deployment of the alliance on its eastern flank will be perceived as a weakness that threatens NATO's security."
Convince Orban
Until recently, Hungary was considered a key ally of Warsaw in the EU. First of all, Warsaw and Budapest acted together in opposition to the European institutions. It is obvious that currently Polish-Hungarian relations are undergoing a radical transformation, but what they will become, they cannot say in Warsaw now.
That is why the section on relations with Hungary takes only a few paragraphs. "We regret that Poland and Hungary perceive the Russian special operation in Ukraine in fundamentally different ways - both its causes and the desired ending scenario," says Rau.
But right after that, he adds: "Therefore, we will convince our Hungarian partners to take a new look at the nature of threats from Russia in order to be able to fully use our potential of relations to deepen them."
Also, describing the prospects of the Visegrad Four format, cooperation in which is now frozen due to the special position of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, it is noted that in the future this format may become effective again.
Eastern Partnership – a success story
In Ukraine, the attitude towards the Eastern Partnership is somewhat skeptical – this format did not provide for the prospects of EU membership and did not correspond to Kiev's ambitions. However, now in Warsaw they present it as a real success story, without which it would be impossible for Kiev to obtain candidate status.
"The Eastern Partnership has prepared Ukraine and Moldova to receive the status of an EU candidate. Thanks to the political investments made earlier in this tool, it became possible for President Andrzej Duda to immediately propose that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of a candidate... Europe has taken a step that it was afraid to take before. This is how a mental revolution took place, changing not only our region, but, I am also convinced, which will change the whole of Europe," says the head of Polish diplomacy.
Just as in the case of Ukraine, Poland welcomes and is ready to contribute to Moldova's European ambitions: "We wish success to Moldova's modernization as a good and motivating example for the peoples of Eastern Europe. We need Moldova's success as a guarantee that Russia will not be able to open a second front there in the conflict against Ukraine and the whole of Europe."
As for Georgia, statements regarding it are more cautious – to support Tbilisi "in the further continuation of the implementation of pro-European reforms, so that in the future it will also receive candidate status." Poland is also confident about a place in the European house for Belarus. "Our long–term goal is a democratic, free and independent Belarus. Poland will not be safe until its neighbors are free and sovereign!" – the report of the minister says.
Instead, Rau notes, "today we see Belarus as a state completely dependent on Russia, ruled by a regime devoid of any democratic and social legitimacy, which has turned Belarus into a large prison and provides Russia with its territory for conducting a special operation in Ukraine."
He clarifies that the Polish authorities had previously made proposals to Lukashenka concerning "increasing the space for political and economic maneuver in exchange for the cessation of repression and persecution," adding that these negotiations did not bring results.
That is why the official Warsaw declares lobbying in the EU for further sanctions against the Lukashenka regime, as well as the use of "the whole range of punishments that are at our sovereign disposal" against him.
Reparations
The conflict on the eastern border of Poland has not changed Warsaw's critical attitude towards Germany. Even recognizing the fundamental change in Berlin's foreign policy (primarily in matters of relations with Russia, including the freezing of the Nord Stream–2 gas pipeline), the tone of the description of relations with Germany remains rather critical.
In particular, Warsaw continues to insist on Germany paying reparations for losses during the Second World War, criticizing Berlin's refusal to conduct appropriate consultations. According to Rau, "there is no moral system or legal order in which the decision on responsibility to the victim of a crime is made only by the perpetrator of this crime, that is, the aggressor."
It is significant that, describing relations with France, the Polish minister acts exactly the opposite – he actively praises the relations themselves, but at the same time criticizes all the key initiatives of President Macron (however, without indicating their authorship).
Thus, Poland criticizes the EU's strategic autonomy initiative, emphasizing the importance of the contribution of NATO and the United States to the security situation in the region. "NATO remains an absolutely irreplaceable structure from the point of view of collective protection. In addition, the European Union supports these efforts in their political, economic and sanctions aspects, as well as complements NATO in political and military matters," the report states.
However, by complimenting the importance of strategic relations with the United States, Warsaw avoids criticizing China – in the part of the speech devoted to relations with Beijing, Zbigniew Rau avoided even mentioning Taiwan.
Protection of independence
Warsaw's conflict with European institutions has not been overcome either. Poland continues to criticize plans to dilute the principle of unanimity in EU decision-making.
At the same time, this principle is presented by Warsaw as a "success story", and the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation is mentioned as an example of this. Without specifying that in case of rejection of this principle, sanctions could be much more powerful, because countries like Hungary could not block them.
However, in those issues where the principle of unanimity has already been replaced by the principle of a qualifying majority, Warsaw allows for the "expansion of the form of consensus", that is, the adoption of a decision by a simple majority.
However, in general, the Polish government presents the rejection of the consensus principle as an attempt by large countries to dominate small and medium-sized ones.
"Poland in its policy strives and will strive for modus operandi based on the consensus of all members of the union, and not agreements of various kinds of European tandems: pentagons, quadrilaterals, triangles, etc., and even more so – not the dictates of the most powerful EU member state," the Polish diplomat once again attacks Germany.
He calls the consequences of the introduction of the euro another proof of inequality within the EU.
"Some countries, after the adoption of the single currency, are not able to develop steadily and harmoniously, and some receive a stable surplus of exports, countering the rise in price of their own currency by continuing economic stagnation in other countries. This system radically reduces the necessary component of equality – equality of chances," Rau is convinced.
Therefore, we are talking not only about Poland's transition to the euro, but even the need for a "temporary and permanent" return of a number of countries to their national currencies is assumed, calling it a pledge of EU reform.
Authors: Yuri Panchenko, Nadezhda Koval
