Poland’s ‘Zealously’ Pro-Ukrainian Policy Has Come Back to Haunt It - Media

Poland has offered its full-throated support for NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, and sent billions of euros in military aid to Kiev. But this week, Warsaw and Kiev summoned one another’s ambassadors after a Polish official accused Ukraine of “ingratitude” and emphasized the need to pursue Poland’s economic interests.

The tit-for-tat summoning of ambassadors by Kiev and Warsaw demonstrates the glaring mistake of zealously promoting the narrative that the Ukrainian crisis is a fight for Poland’s freedom, a leading Polish newspaper has concluded.

The Polish Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s ambassador in Warsaw on Tuesday in connection with “statements by Ukrainian authorities,” several hours after the Polish ambassador to Ukraine was summoned in Kiev. The tit-for-tat summons revolve around comments made by Marcin Przyadacz, secretary of state at the chancellery of the Polish president, that Kiev should “start to appreciate” Polish assistance.

“What is most important today is defending the interests of the Polish farmer,” Przyadacz said, commenting on Poland’s recent decision to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports, a move Kiev was quick to dub as “unfriendly.”

“When it comes to Ukraine, Ukraine has really received a lot of support from Poland. I think it would be worth them starting to appreciate the role that Poland has played for Ukraine in recent months and years,” Przyadacz said. “We must stand firmly in the interest of the Polish state here and Ukraine should start appreciating what Poland does for it,” he added.

Andrii Sybikha, deputy chief of staff at President Zelensky’s office, slammed Przyadacz, calling his comments “opportunistic,” “manipulative” and “treacherous,” calling him a Russian “tool” and claiming that the weapons Poland was sending to Ukraine were “not charity, but an investment in Poland’s own security,” since “Ukrainians are protecting the values and security of our region…in the interests of Poland and the entire free world.”

‘Hard Landing’

“We are experiencing a hard landing in Polish-Ukrainian relations,” Mysl Polska editor-in-chief Jan Engelgard wrote in an editorial Wednesday. “Not only is the conflict of interest in the field of agriculture intensifying, not only is it sparking historical matters, but there are also now disputes about Ukraine’s gratitude or ingratitude toward us.”

Pointing to the uproar in Poland over Kiev’s reaction to Przyadacz’s comments, Engelgard said that it was the Polish political establishment’s own fault for creating the political Frankenstein’s monster in Kiev.

“We ourselves gave the Ukrainians the arguments to react in this way. The most representative statement is the opinion of [Prime Minister] Mateusz Morawiecki, who said in February of this year that ‘in Ukraine, soldiers are also dying for our freedom. Probably for the first time in the last 300 years, someone other than Poles are fighting for our and your freedom.’ Bluntly speaking, the prime minister’s line of thinking could be put more precisely – that we do not have to sacrifice the lives of Polish soldiers, because the Ukrainians die instead of us…This is the natural consequence of accepting the false thesis that this is a conflict not only in defense of Ukraine, but also for Polish independence – that if Kiev falls, Warsaw will be next.”

“This is an absurd assessment which has no relation to reality,” Engelgard emphasized, noting that the Ukrainian crisis is not rooted in “any ‘Russian imperialism’, but the struggle to maintain Moscow’s influence in areas it considers its sphere of influence and security, and on which the US and NATO have set their foot, and in addition, carried out a coup and overthrew the lawful president of Ukraine.”

“Promoting the propaganda thesis that Ukraine is fighting for the whole ‘free world’, for Europe, and therefore also for Poland, is very convenient for authorities in Kiev,” the observer noted, “because it drives military, financial and political support for them. Furthermore, it basically puts them beyond the reach of any criticism."

Warsaw, Engelgard said, “accepted this interpretation of the war” with “even more zeal and ferocity than the West, as evidenced by countless statements by the president, the prime minister and a whole flock of [ruling] PiS and opposition politicians. If that’s the case, Kiev can ask with a clear conscience – what else do you want from us? You bargain for your farmers, do you expect us to condemn the UPA? Now, while we fight for your existence? Thus, Poland has fallen victim to its own propaganda and the dogma that this is ‘our war’,” he noted.

“Hungary took a completely different take from the very beginning,” the observer noted, pointing out that Budapest was quick to point out that the Ukrainian crisis was not Hungary’s conflict, that the country’s goal would be to stay out of it, not send weapons, seek its speedy resolution, and defend its national interests.

“Hungary has a clear position, including in relation to Ukraine. Poland does not, and let us emphasize, by our own doing,” Engelgard summed up.