In the context of the war against Russia, Poland has been a reliable ally of Ukraine, but recently there have been some worrying contradictions. Analyst Oleksiy Kushch believes that cooperation between the countries is situational, as they compete in many areas, from economics to ideology.
By the way, when I wrote before the war that a successful Ukraine was a nightmare for Poland, many people didn't believe me.
But this is reality, since Ukraine and Poland are direct regional competitors: for labor resources, for investments, for European subsidies, even for markets for goods.
Competitors for logistics flows, for the right to create a Central European gas hub.
For dominance in geopolitical constructions: Three Seas, Baltic-Black Sea arc (concept of Ukrainian geopolitician Yuriy Lypa).
Even for the right to relay in Europe their “Sarmatian” historical myth — the wall of Europe on the eastern border of Europe, protecting it from the “Asian hordes.” And historical mythology often underlies the cliodynamics and economic development of a country.
Let us add here the core narrative of two ideologies of nationalism, Polish and Ukrainian.
Polish nationalism is a post-imperial ideology, a myth about the first and second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, “from sea to sea.” This is Czarnecki of the 17th century, who said “and do not leave a Ruthenian to procreate,” and Pilsudski with his “pacification” of Galicia and the destruction of the ZUNR.
And Ukrainian nationalism, anti-imperial and mono-ethnic in its essence: Bandera, OUN, and UPA.
In general, if there is geopolitical competition, then here it is in its purest form.
This does not cancel the situational interaction between the two countries. But even during the war, Poland can block the border and prevent Ukrainian grain from entering, raise the topic of the Volyn massacre, although this is clearly not the time.
But Poland feels that Ukraine largely depends on its position in EU structures and simply wants to “press.”.
In general, no one needs a strong and competitive Ukraine, neither Turkey nor Poland. Only Ukrainians need it.
