Personalities and Principles: Poland Proposes Common Societal Space

Those who conceived the idea of holding a Year of Poland in Ukraine at a time when the former is joining the European Union and the latter is in the grip of an election campaign, have in fact sent and, at the same time, decided to accept a challenge to both countries. To what extent are Warsaw and Kyiv prepared for close economic, social, and cultural cooperation? To what extent are they ready to be “together in Europe,” as the Year of Poland in Ukraine slogan calls for?

According to Miroslaw Ciech, until recently the Polish Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for organizing this very event (the office he resigned from for what some Polish journalists call overstrain), Poland has previously held seasons of its culture in Sweden, Austria, and Spain. “The Year in Ukraine is the most large-scale action of this kind with absolutely different key points. It is not just a case of ‘state-sponsored promotion’ but an instance of very active interaction,” said Mr. Ciech. It is for this reason that high on the list of the Year’s program are social occasions not only in Kyiv but also in the regions, as well as exchange of information on European integration.

As we know, Ukraine and Poland showed a new dimension of their cooperation last year in Iraq. Today, both Kyiv and Warsaw are not only accomplishing a peacekeeping mission but also bidding — without apparent success so far — for Iraq reconstruction contracts. Yet, Boguslaw Zaleski, Undersecretary of State at the Foreign Ministry of Poland, appears optimistic. “Many industries of Ukraine and Poland complement one another. This particularly applies to the production of weapons to be supplied to the new Iraq’s army and police,” he said, adding that Warsaw has drawn many from the Polish Bumar company’s unsuccessful bidding on an Iraq supplies contract. “The Ukrainian side should also show initiative. The Polish government can force no company to cooperate with its Ukrainian counterparts. What the companies really need is a direct dialog,” Mr. Zaleski said.

The Polish side also displayed an impartial approach to business contracts when the problem of Huta Czestochowa was broached. Mr. Zaleski noted that during the seasons of Poland in Sweden the Swedish company Grippen lost a Polish aircraft tender. Jan Byra, chairman of the Polish- Ukrainian interparliamentary group, who said that the Huta story might negatively affect Ukrainian-Polish relations, still does not rule out a “political way of solving” this problem. “I believe in my government and in that it was guided by economic considerations. State-to-state relations have nothing to do with the economy. What really matters is profit,” he said. Mr. Byra added that, as far as he knows, the Polish government is interested in further cooperation with the Industrial League of Donbas. “The company has received privatization offers in respect of six other steel mills,” he said.

Elzbieta Bodio, Director of the International Cooperation Department at Poland’s Ministry of the Economy, has also noted that the Polish side is interested in increased Ukrainian exports and investments. In her words, last year Ukraine overtook Russia as Poland’s No. 1 export partner: Poland exported to Ukraine goods worth $1.555 billion, $60 million above its sales to Russia. Ms. Bodio also says Polish investment in Ukraine rose by 54% to $150 million. Yet, situations like the Lviv’s Magnus department store privatization scandal may have a negative effect on bilateral cooperation, the Polish interviewees believe. As to whether integration with Europe might diminish Poland’s interest in the Ukrainian market, both Ms. Bodio and Mr. Ciech are convinced this will not happen. According to Mr. Ciech, the present interest mainly stems from the cheapness of Ukrainian labor. What could also provide a new impetus to Ukrainian-Polish economic cooperation is a bilateral strategy of cross-border and regional cooperation, says Ms. Bodio.

Far more lukewarm is Poland’s attitude toward the political aspects of cooperation, such as supporting Ukraine’s aspiration to raise the level of cooperation with NATO at the Istanbul summit. The probable formula of future cooperation will be mapped out at a Warsaw conference on the eve of the Istanbul meet. Andrzej Towpik, deputy defense minister of Poland, said, “Warsaw was prepared from the very outset to support Ukraine’s wish to join the Membership Action Plan. Yet, it depends on the course of the discussions whether precisely this format will be chosen. Other formats are also under discussion, one of the proposals being intensified dialog. It does not matter what the form of cooperation will be called. What really matters is content.” Mr. Towpik also said Poland is closely watching and noting the positive course of the reform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as appreciating the high level of military cooperation between Kyiv and NATO. A similar opinion is shared by independent Polish experts, who are convinced that the Istanbul summit will take the next step but not necessarily the Membership Action Plan. The reason for this is quite obvious: the West wants, above all, to see Ukraine hold transparent and democratic elections.

The Polish interviewees unanimously denied that the political actions envisaged by the Year of Poland program might be used to influence the elections one way or another. “The election is Ukraine’s internal affair. Besides, gone are the times when we lived by the slogan ‘The spring is over, the summer is in, thank the [Communist] Party for this,’ Mr. Zaleski said. “We are deeply convinced that democratic processes in Ukraine are irreversible, while the Year of Poland will work for rapprochement between the two societies.” Polish experts caution against jumping to conclusions over contacts between certain Polish and Ukrainian politicians. Some of the Polish elites favor Viktor Yushchenko; there are some Polish nationals among his consultants. Others oppose Our Ukraine, and still others — sadly enough — do not care about what is going on in their neighboring state.

Moreover, the current Polish government’s dwindling popularity might lead to early parliamentary elections. Although Mrs. Jolanta Kwasniewska, a likely Union of the Democratic Left candidate in the neat year’s presidential elections, is still popular, it is still too early to say that she will enter, let alone win, the race. This is why most Polish independent experts friendly to Ukraine call for respecting President Aleksander Kwasniewski’s inherent readiness to help and be lenient to a partner, as well as focusing on the laws and rules of the game rather than on personalities. For it is these laws and rules that govern the life of the developed societies that will help Ukraine and Poland to be together in Europe.